*UPDATE* Roberto's company is actually called Ballet22 - or 'ballet two dos'. www.ballet22.com/ @ballet22_ When we filmed & posted this video, Roberto was still in the initial stages of founding his company, and a name change happened a little while later. We're so thankful and blessed that we were able to hear and share his story so early on in his process!
Roberto looks great on pointe!!! By the way, Ballerina's are female because of the a at the end, turn that a into an o and the word denotes males. Very easy !🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Gotta love the Italians!❤❤❤❤❤❤
He seemed heavy to me, really made the floor shake. I was wondering though if it’d be possible for males to be any lighter though. They obviously aren’t built the same as women, especially women ballerinas.
I think just in life, not being taken seriously for who you are, is one of the most hurtful experiences that can happen to you. Even if a part of you fits a stereotype, nobody wants their entire experience, who they are as a person, and everything they’ve worked for to be reduced to a token or to only exist for entertainment. I feel that on so many levels.
This. I'm dealing with this personally at the moment. Not regarding ballet - since I don't dance - but regarding nail polish. I want to find masculine men who do tutorials but they don't seem to exist. I feel uncomfortable watching women and feminine gay men when it's all I ever see. As a trans man, I've dealt with enough invalidation about who I am and been shoved in with the women far too many times. If I choose to be seen as feminine or do drag or make jokes about stereotypes, that's a world away from being forced into any of those boxes by others.
I was exposed to men en pointe from RuPaul's Drag Race (love it!). But I totally agree that pointe work for men can be so much more than just relegated to a parody or Drag (though Drag is an art form in itself). I love that you're a trailblazer and your technique and strength is incredible. Keep dancing 😍
You, sir, are an amazing individual! Gender bias in dance is what prevents art from evolving. Dancing en point is about strength, skill and balance among other things. How does the world figure these acronyms apply only to women in dance? Yes, I believe there are parts - especially in classic formal ballets that are for females only because they were written that way. That only means that we need visionaries out there like you who can write new ballets that focus on the male dancer and showcase him!
Absolutely right! However, the mind set that considering pointe is only for female dancers restrains the imaginations to create serious role for male dancers on pointe , instead of imitating existing female roles (as the dance shows at the end of this video).
@@longzhang3268 I agree totally. Imagine how far a male role could be expanded with pointe options for spins(faster), elongating the line, visual posibilities! India has a traditional danceform that has men standing on their toes,why not male ballet roles en pointe?
@@lifeontheledgerlines8394 its called bharathanatyam,and performed by both sexes,usually as a solo. Combining flat footed steps and up on the toes steps. Its quite fascinating and beautiful. Theres a lot if you search on youtube.
'Why did I have to be a joke? Why can't I be a serious dancer? Why can't I be taken seriously when I'm dancing en pointe?' This hits hard. loved this vid and so glad you included some of his dancing at the end. Great work ❤️
I saw the thumbnail and my exact words were “Woah, those are some Roberto Vega level feet.” You can imagine how THRILLED I was when I realized it was him! Incredible work! ♥️
The muscle groups that male dancers end up developing makes them so good at pointe? Like I’ve seen guys throw on pointe shoes for the first time and doing fouettés by the end of class
@@blah7983 I agree. Most of the guys I've seen en pointe have to fight ankle flexibility and the overall shape of their feet, but if they are naturally flexible or willing to put in the work, they become extremely capable in pointe shoes! I think a lot of it has to do with strength and proprioceptive awareness already built up by most male ballet dancers. I imagine training for big jumps and turns has an impact on the feet to make them stronger and more easily controlled for pointework.
@@mortifera123 this is why I strongly believe that both male and female dancers should all just do the same lessons and then specialise if they want to, I did basic ballet at university for my performing arts degree but my actual dance training is in ballroom and Latin so of course for the most part I only learned the traditionally female choreography. The very few times I got to learn and dance as the male counterparts (and this was only out of necessity as we had zero male dancers) I found my female choreography grew exponentially because I understood the whole dynamic even more, I understood why I had to be in the places the choreography dictated and I was able to grow more as a dancer/performer. One of my maybe unrealistic goals in life is to open a ballroom/latin school where you are completely free to choose which role you want to learn to dance, I’ve never heard of any schools in my country at least where you can do that and it annoys me to no end
@@AstraRoseYT thats a thing the world needs!!! Get your dream into reality and make it come true!! I Believe in you and your power, so many people are waiting for one to make this revolution! Keep your Idea up!!!
Wow, that last dance sequence was incredible! And so great to see a man actually dancing ballet at full tilt, instead of just wandering around to hold the ballerina up!
When I was really young and in ballet I always wondered why men didn't do pointe, I never thought of it as a gender specific thing, and I totally agree that men should be able to do it for sure!
I hope he thinks about making his own ballet that is mostly men dancer. How cool would it be to so something like "The count of monte cristo" or "the three musketeers", and turn it into a ballet!?!
While I've not seen it, there's an all male version of Swan Lake that comes around to my city every few years. I've seen some clips of it and it looks amazing.
Two more things: 1) As a male dancer who trained in pointe, my regular adult ballet class teacher at the time, noticed that my articulation through my feet became SIGNIFICANTLY better after I had started my pointe training. So, it is HIGHLY encouraged for male dancers to train en pointe because it will help them with their overall technique that you really can't get that kind of training with just ballet flats. 2) Also as a male dancer, Josephine Lee talks about how, generally, we have more strength and muscle compared to women. And I can PERSONALLY attest to the fact that you are VERY much aware of that fact when you are training en pointe, with the rest of the girls, (not just acutely aware of it), but that not only would you have to work twice as hard to be able to get up onto pointe, but you also have to work twice as hard to be able to land (for example) as delicately as the girls/women do when THEY are en pointe. There's a LOT that goes into the kinesology of male ballet dancers en pointe that is just often NOT talked about at all, nor has there been as many kinesology studies about it due to the fact that pointe training is not required for men, but I think that it should be at least a supplementary course. You have a lot of strength to be able to catch a lot of air, but I remember having to retraining my delivery of the power, by attenuating it, just so that I would be able to take off and land on beat/with the music. And if you are a strong jumper like I used to be -- do you have ANY idea how much control and training you have to put in to NOT just give ALL of your jumps full power? Where you PURPOSELY have to hold back BECAUSE going full bore on all of the jumps makes it that you take twice as long to get up as you do coming down. And if you're doing sissous battements, where you can't depend on air time to get you through said sissous battements, then you are training the muscles in your legs to be able to react and "twitch" faster to be able to pull off the sissous battements. SUPER challenging. And sadly, not very many people are even remotely aware of these kinds of technical and technique challenges that male dancers who train en pointe, are faced with and/or have to deal/contend with.
Watching the clip at the end, that was a dancer, gender does not matter. This is a person that has worked hard for years at their craft, and the dedication shows. The footwork and frame are gorgeous, and I feel that its more than past time for male dancers to be in serious roles en pointe. I'll be keeping an eye out for when you tour in Florida.
I recently started pointe as a male dancer and what's interesting I never heard of truckadoros (forgive me for I can't spell lol) until a teacher brought it up to me. I started doing it to strengthen my feet and legs for flat shoes, as well help me better understand how to to partner a woman. Then I started finding alot of contemporary dances on pointe and that inspired me to take it more seriously, I want to perform en pointe ❤️
As someone relatively new to engaging in the ballet world, it was watching the video where Josephine fits some male dancers for the roles of the step sisters in Cinderella that it dawned on me that men don't dance en pointe in classical ballet. I'd never really thought about it, but from watching that video I realised that, and my very first thought was, why not? I'm so glad that Roberto is forging this path and following his love for ballet and pointe!
If I remember correctly en pointe wasn't even a thing for women in ballet since the beginning. Gradually extreme tiptoeing to create an illusion of weightlessness and efforts to visually elongate legs developed into en pointe and a separate dancing technique so to speak. Since these were quite specific goals, that were set for the technique as in what it was supposed to convey it made little sense to encourage men to do it as it doesn't really highlight masculine attributes in a character. It just made more sense for women to have their daintiness and gentleness taken to the extreme and for men to project strength and being grounded - kind of a jing and jang or empasis by opposition.
I loved this post! I'm a guy and I too have been in pointe shoes a lot! I had good feet as well, and loved working and dancing on pointe. It really adds to the technique and to the stories we can create as male dancers. I could never use my skills in the repertoire companies that I danced for, so I wish Roberto the very best. I totally applaud the idea that male dancers can perform on pointe without being a joke and am looking forwards to seeing Roberto perform. I hope his company can come here to Amsterdam some time. Thank you Josephine, for sharing ;-)
As a male dancer, one of the things I’ve always wanted is to be taken seriously as a male dancer who wants to pursue point warms my heart to know that there is a man on point doing that and maybe one day I’ll for his company❤
The clip at the end with him dancing was magical. He is very elegant while dancing en point. It actually makes sense to have men wearing point shoes because they can do a larger variety of steps, movements (probably not using the proper terminology as I haven’t taken ballet classes even though I desperately wanted to as a child.) it also adds another level of elegance to their dancing. Also requires them to be more aware of how they dance and practice because they have to be much stronger especially in their feet to be able to go on point without damaging their feet and ankles.
He brings such beauty to ballet through his movements and skill. He or any male ballet dancers en point should never be considered a joke. By adding men en point, it offers possibilities and exploration of a whole new realm! ❤
I honestly would love to see male dancers, dancing en pointe as men and dancing specific original choreography for that male role. Or also re-working certain classics to make a previously female only role to a male or trans or whomever role. Imagine Bluebird but with a male en pointe 💙
I imagine it would be interesting to see males en pointe in roles like a male spirit, maybe demon or in a slightly allegoric role depicting artistic male character or like a very driven and dynamic character (that kind of sweeps by)... I can see sense in that. It would still be more limited though, since with retaining masculinity it makes no sense to default to daintiness without the need to highlight some specific aspect of the role that can be better expressed with this technique.
To be honest this is something I’ve thought of so many times when I watch classic ballet and I always think of how cool Would It be if male dancers could Aso go on point for some of their amazing movements and spins but be the male dancer still .. why not ?!classic ballet will always be classic ballet but thankfully we live in a world where we can explore and extend boundaries and created new frames of art and dance . That’s what creation is al about! Love your work Roberto
Thank you for introducing this man to us. I almost cried when I thought of all the iniquities he has to tolerate. As women I think we can relate to be undervalued or not being taken seriously. I loved seeing him dancing! He's delightful and I wish him happiness and acceptance.
There’s an older gentleman in my pointe class. He was so nervous when he started and wasn’t sure he’d be ok as he was a man. He’s so good at pointe work and it’s so amazing to see the ballet world become oh more inclusive.
My late Auntie who was a ballerina all of her life, even post-retirement from the stage, she coached, she taught...I took her to see the Trocks and she was ALL ABOUT how much fun it was and how amazing they were! And, they did her favorite piece "the Dying Swan" with the Trocks' spin...which charmed her and made her laugh so much. I got the chance to see them again almost 3 years after she died, and they did the Swan number and I was giggling and yet crying at the same time... All the best to Ballet22!
I’ve been following Roberto for YEARS, and I am just so inspired by him! Thanks for making this video; the ballet world can still be so rigid in it’s customs that it seems inaccessible to lots of people of different races/genders/body types, and it’s so refreshing to see such an amount of acceptance from you and the people in these comments! It’s about time men are “allowed” on pointe in serious ballets and I hope we will see more of it soon! Loving you channel, and hope to see more and more videos like this ❤️
That's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I know there's a male pointe role in The Dream (the Royal Ballet have a video up talking about it - search for something like males on pointe under the Royal Opera House channel) and I think one of the Australian ballet companies had men on pointe for something though I don't remember what. It's just really amazing to see a man doing something like this and doing it so well - Roberto looked *amazing* in that sequence at the end!!
Just amazing! I always wondered what a male would look like dancing on point. Wish I could see what a male female couple on point looked like too but very thankful to have seen the video of Roberto at the end.
Too bad that men cannot dance en pointe in male costumes or non-binary costumes. Why do they necessarily have to be in a tutu and in drag, and mainly for comedic effect? 😓
I've seen a Russian ballet company in Helsinki where there were only men dancing all the parts - this was already over 20 decades ago but It has stayed with me. It was made funny in parts choosing the smallest to lift the tallest, but they all were dancing seriously not overly in make up or comedic costumes. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
What a beautiful and inspirational video! There is no reason men cannot be on pointe. Now all that is needed is choreographers ready to take on the challenge!
I’d love to see more male dancers en pointe in tradition masculine roles!! I think it would add another level of awesome and difficult to their performances
I really enjoyed watching him dance. There's beauty in watching the hard, brute strength of a man mastering the gentleness of dancing in a fragile easily breakable pointe shoe 💓
I was one of the few, if not, one of the only guys, when I was taking my ballet lessons, to be training en pointe. (This was let's see....2007 maybe 2008 ish?) I trained, on and off for about 5 years, often with the 10-12 year old girls (who were also all taking Pointe I). The summer before that class, I asked the artistic director of the dance school, Mrs. Jennings, if I could take the summer (pointe) ballet intensive (which ran for about 3 weeks, I don't remember how often the classes ran -- whether it was 3 times a week or if it was only weekly), but she was worried that my ankles wouldn't be strong enough, but she let me try it anyways. (I had been practicing how to rise up onto relevé and getting back down from it at home, and I figured that I would get a professional opinion before I severely injure myself.) So, after doing the summer intensive for three weeks, the second-last class, I stopped by her office and asked what her professional opinion was, and she said that she was worried that my ankles wouldn't be strong enough to support me when I was up on full pointe, but I ended up NOT having that problem, so my doing the summer intensive alleviated this concern of hers (which would be a legitimate concern). As such, I asked if she thinks that I would be okay to continue studying pointe, and she agreed to let me take the "regular" class, during the "regular" school year with the rest of the girls, and so I did. I think that the parents of the girls were surprised in the beginning, but then got used it since we were grouped together by skill level and we all trained and studied together. It was great! The older girls at the school, at the time, thought that it was a little bit "unorthodox". There was one younger girl (when we were having our Nutcracker auditions (which we affectionately called our "Nutty auditions"), (she was about 9 at the time, and I was 26 at the time), dreamed about when she would be able to start her pointe training and dancing on pointe shoes, and I said that I had mine, pulled them up, showed it to her, put them on, and then went up on relevé in first, and she was just like "WOWWWWW!!!!" I still remember to this day -- just her sheer sense of wonder and excitement. There are days that I miss it, and then there are also days that I remember how difficult pointe work actually is (and the pain that came with it). I loved it. I still love it. But it's a memory now, as I am no longer training (not since I got married and had kids). But I might get to live vicariously through my tiny human #2, if tiny human #2 (and most probably/most likely) will end up in ballet.
Male dancers can have just as much grace and flair as female dancers and I love that he's advocating for this. I'd love to see more men on pointe and in serious roles.
no they can't lol. they can try but some things are female/for women, not sure why men can just take and take and pretend they're as good or better than women. it's very typical though which is why feminism is important nowadays.
We all wish we had his feet! But he worked really hard for them too. Flexible feet aren't always strong so they have to work hard to control that range of motion.
I love watching male ballet dancers, especially in solos. I have always imagined what a male dancer would look like if he were en pointe during the solo, with such strength and grace. Thank you Roberto and Josephine.
Yes ive been waiting for this since im a male ballerina in quarantine and after quaratine,thinking of getting my 1st pair since im ready for pointe work but quarantine makes me stick to pre pointe work again ksksks
This is really cool! That clip at the end, though! He does dance with grace, but there’s a certain power in his movements that doesn’t seem there in women dancers. This is awesome!
I so agree with you. N. Osipova only concentrates on her over flexibility of legs, (which isn't so important in ballet, normal controlled flexibility is good) and sometimes her arms, but not on her feet. They do look very dead! And very often, so does her facial expression. Like a zombie. Especially in daily life. Scary and deeply sad. There is something extreemly depressing about her. And, I do think she dances ballet to overshadow a very deep wound somewhere. Not a happy person at all.
Well, I’m thinking it can’t be too bad, as she is a ballerina in her thirties still considered as the best of the best. Or perhaps she just defies nature, and for regular people it would be a feet killer. While she is not my favorite current dancer, I do enjoy her performances a lot, and don’t have the confidence to say that she has a void or that she looks like a zombie while dancing.
I think maybe some people prefer their shoes like that. I know I do. I hate how hard brand new point shoes are. I like them more when they’re dead because they’re softer and more comfortable and easier to move in. The also support my foot more somehow. That could be the reason hers are dead???
YES I noticed this even from the audience while she was performing :/ her shoes just looked so crumpled and dirty! That really affected my perception of her overall look even from 20-40 feet away. She's such a beautiful, musical, accomplished dancer in every way, but I wish she'd have normal looking shoes that don't disrupt her line!
Gorgeous!!! I had always wondered why not both men and women danced en pointe, and I hadn't known there was such a stigma... Anyone should be able to dance however they want! It's an art that anyone should be able to participate in and feel good about themselves. Go Roberto! Spread the love and openness of dancing en pointe!
Wow, he has so beautiful masculine legs. I really hope that ballet will once and for all stop with the stigma that ballet dancers should be of prescribed sizes and genders. Well, not only ballet but also other dance categories. In my country, we had a really strong jazz ballet dancers and teachers were obsessed with a really skinny figure so other shaped kids were almost not allowed to dance. Crazy.
Males en pointe I've seen were: the mother in La Fille Mal Gardée or the stepsisters in Cinderella. Yes they can have serious roles too! 🩰 Hope to do pointe too (even if I'm old 🤭) And Roberto's manège en tours piqués is incredible!!!! 😯
Roberto dancing in the end was magic. He has the most beautiful legs. Thank you Josephine for posting. You seem like the most gracious person - wish I were a dancer so I could buy shoes at your shop!
A lot of male dancers try pointe but immediately give up because of the PAIN! Some use topical anesthetics but you can seriously damage your feet if you can't tell you are smashing the hell out of them!
First time commenting. I did ballet/tap/tumbling when I was 6 and 7. I loved dance/movement, but didn't feel like dance or even figure skating loved me back. Trockaderos was actually the last live theater performance I saw before everything shut down for COVID. There was so much to appreciate, from athleticism, strength, discipline, grace, lovely partnering, expressive acting and brilliant comic timing. I was also so often absorbed in the beauty of their performance and visual storytelling, I could have just watched them perform ballet straight through without the camp, so thank you, Josephine, for the introduction to Roberto Vega and Male Ballerinas. Something also really touched me deeply to tears about seeing muscular bodies on pointe. I am Asian, quite curvy proportionately, and tend to build muscle, strength, and power quickly. I never thought I had a body for ballet or even traditional Chinese dances because the emphasis was on flexible slender white bodies for both dances, not muscular strong eventually busty bodies like mine. My body seemed defective. Watching male bodies of all sizes on stage made me cry to see bodies on stage that had muscle like me AND were graceful. I'm slowly trying to rebuild a healthy relationship with dance, one that is grounded and loves my body back.
Holy cow, that demonstration is insanely good! So encouraging and inspiring for those of us men looking to enjoy and pay homage to a beautiful, masterful expression of dance without being seen as a political or social statement.
Hits close home as a male ballet dancer. I always wanted to go on pointe in a serious way, but there is no “you’re ready for pointe/demi-pointe” for us unfortunately.
I think one would call a serious male dancer who’s en pointe a ballerino. I really think he could show us some wonderful dancing, seriously! I enjoyed watching the mini performance at the end of this video.
Just the build of his legs is beautiful. You can tell there is a lot of strength in his legs, someone who doesn't skip legs day. But his calves are just magnificent, they're shaped so differently from a bodybuilder's, it's muscular but shapely, so graceful. Roberto's legs are goals.
His explanation of how he loves dancing en pointe for drag, but also for himself made me tear up. I am so glad he's had the opportunity to explore pointe more and pave the way for other young dances who want to do the same!
I absolutely love this!! So eye opening. I feel like a big issue is the repertoire and also the culture of ballet. Yes it's hard to find a serious en pointe role for a male, but at the same time, female ballerinas are also harshly judged by their lines and body shape without even having the added layer of being male. It's gotta be exponentially harder to forge ur way as male en pointe dancers with very limited repertoire.
I love Roberto! I remember taking with him before he left PR about his struggles to learn pointe in a place that didn't accept him wanting to learn. I love seeing how far he's come from dancing variations in his house! Way to go Roberto! ❤
This is eye-opening! Thank you for sharing. I never thought about it before but yeah... why can’t men dance en pointe? It’s a new frontier to conquer. An incredible opportunity for innovative choreography. This is really great.
This video is amazing! I have to admit that before seeing this I was not a fan of male dancers en pointe. This definitely opened my eyes! I can't wait to watch male ballerinas!!
I did not realize that male ballet dancers do NOT dance on pointe, usually....great to see him dance!!! I am an amateur in equality ballroom dancing and I love the effect it has, when a man dances the traditionally female role and, in my case, vice versa. It opens up new opportunities and expressions for traditonal interpretations in dancing😘
*UPDATE*
Roberto's company is actually called Ballet22 - or 'ballet two dos'.
www.ballet22.com/
@ballet22_
When we filmed & posted this video, Roberto was still in the initial stages of founding his company, and a name change happened a little while later. We're so thankful and blessed that we were able to hear and share his story so early on in his process!
Roberto looks great on pointe!!! By the way, Ballerina's are female because of the a at the end, turn that a into an o and the word denotes males. Very easy !🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Gotta love the Italians!❤❤❤❤❤❤
Wow the clip of him dancing en pointe at the end! He has such a strong frame but is amazingly light on his feet, I love it!!
He truly is like a feather beautiful Bravo!!💝🕺💃
It looks natural for me to see men on point
@@megagalak3608 same! He’s amazing! 😀
He seemed heavy to me, really made the floor shake. I was wondering though if it’d be possible for males to be any lighter though. They obviously aren’t built the same as women, especially women ballerinas.
@@seaglassmomma4040 jeez.
I think just in life, not being taken seriously for who you are, is one of the most hurtful experiences that can happen to you. Even if a part of you fits a stereotype, nobody wants their entire experience, who they are as a person, and everything they’ve worked for to be reduced to a token or to only exist for entertainment. I feel that on so many levels.
Same.
I know this is kinda old, but that was incredibly well said and validating.
❤️TRUE
This.
I'm dealing with this personally at the moment. Not regarding ballet - since I don't dance - but regarding nail polish. I want to find masculine men who do tutorials but they don't seem to exist.
I feel uncomfortable watching women and feminine gay men when it's all I ever see. As a trans man, I've dealt with enough invalidation about who I am and been shoved in with the women far too many times.
If I choose to be seen as feminine or do drag or make jokes about stereotypes, that's a world away from being forced into any of those boxes by others.
Thank you, Josephine! Not only fitting me into a great pair of pointe shoes, but for creating an inclusive platform where everyone has a space! ❤️
I was exposed to men en pointe from RuPaul's Drag Race (love it!). But I totally agree that pointe work for men can be so much more than just relegated to a parody or Drag (though Drag is an art form in itself). I love that you're a trailblazer and your technique and strength is incredible. Keep dancing 😍
You are amazing!
❤️❤️❤️ it is my absolute honor and pleasure. Thank you for being our inspiration!
Well, every dancer has feet. So, pretty inclusive of feet.
You, sir, are an amazing individual! Gender bias in dance is what prevents art from evolving. Dancing en point is about strength, skill and balance among other things. How does the world figure these acronyms apply only to women in dance? Yes, I believe there are parts - especially in classic formal ballets that are for females only because they were written that way. That only means that we need visionaries out there like you who can write new ballets that focus on the male dancer and showcase him!
Pointe is an extention of art,whether male or female.
Absolutely right! However, the mind set that considering pointe is only for female dancers restrains the imaginations to create serious role for male dancers on pointe , instead of imitating existing female roles (as the dance shows at the end of this video).
@@longzhang3268 I agree totally. Imagine how far a male role could be expanded with pointe options for spins(faster), elongating the line, visual posibilities! India has a traditional danceform that has men standing on their toes,why not male ballet roles en pointe?
@@pheart2381 Could you reply with the name of the Indian dance form or maybe a link to where I can find more info on this? That's so cool
@@lifeontheledgerlines8394 its called bharathanatyam,and performed by both sexes,usually as a solo. Combining flat footed steps and up on the toes steps. Its quite fascinating and beautiful. Theres a lot if you search on youtube.
@@pheart2381 Thank you so much!
'Why did I have to be a joke? Why can't I be a serious dancer? Why can't I be taken seriously when I'm dancing en pointe?' This hits hard. loved this vid and so glad you included some of his dancing at the end. Great work ❤️
I saw the thumbnail and my exact words were “Woah, those are some Roberto Vega level feet.” You can imagine how THRILLED I was when I realized it was him! Incredible work! ♥️
I love how you knew who it was by his feet XD
The muscle groups that male dancers end up developing makes them so good at pointe? Like I’ve seen guys throw on pointe shoes for the first time and doing fouettés by the end of class
Guys go up way later so the learning curve is less. They start out with more strength (and usually less flexibility).
@@blah7983 I agree. Most of the guys I've seen en pointe have to fight ankle flexibility and the overall shape of their feet, but if they are naturally flexible or willing to put in the work, they become extremely capable in pointe shoes! I think a lot of it has to do with strength and proprioceptive awareness already built up by most male ballet dancers. I imagine training for big jumps and turns has an impact on the feet to make them stronger and more easily controlled for pointework.
@@mortifera123 this is why I strongly believe that both male and female dancers should all just do the same lessons and then specialise if they want to, I did basic ballet at university for my performing arts degree but my actual dance training is in ballroom and Latin so of course for the most part I only learned the traditionally female choreography. The very few times I got to learn and dance as the male counterparts (and this was only out of necessity as we had zero male dancers) I found my female choreography grew exponentially because I understood the whole dynamic even more, I understood why I had to be in the places the choreography dictated and I was able to grow more as a dancer/performer. One of my maybe unrealistic goals in life is to open a ballroom/latin school where you are completely free to choose which role you want to learn to dance, I’ve never heard of any schools in my country at least where you can do that and it annoys me to no end
@@AstraRoseYT thats a thing the world needs!!! Get your dream into reality and make it come true!! I Believe in you and your power, so many people are waiting for one to make this revolution! Keep your Idea up!!!
UGH! HIS LEGS!! From the hip to the tip of his pointe shoe, the lines are BEAUTIFUL 😍
Wow, that last dance sequence was incredible! And so great to see a man actually dancing ballet at full tilt, instead of just wandering around to hold the ballerina up!
Have you seen solo male sequences? But yes, he looked amazing in the last clip of him dancing.
When I was really young and in ballet I always wondered why men didn't do pointe, I never thought of it as a gender specific thing, and I totally agree that men should be able to do it for sure!
I hope he thinks about making his own ballet that is mostly men dancer. How cool would it be to so something like "The count of monte cristo" or "the three musketeers", and turn it into a ballet!?!
While I've not seen it, there's an all male version of Swan Lake that comes around to my city every few years. I've seen some clips of it and it looks amazing.
Brianne Hunt that is an AMAZING idea!
@Thora Friganza I've seen Borne's version of male SL. Is there another one and is it available on yt?
iv’e always thought that cinderella would make an ASTONISHING ballet
Yes,totally agree,choreographers!! We need some ballets developed with some male pointe work,still masculine,but en pointe
Two more things:
1) As a male dancer who trained in pointe, my regular adult ballet class teacher at the time, noticed that my articulation through my feet became SIGNIFICANTLY better after I had started my pointe training.
So, it is HIGHLY encouraged for male dancers to train en pointe because it will help them with their overall technique that you really can't get that kind of training with just ballet flats.
2) Also as a male dancer, Josephine Lee talks about how, generally, we have more strength and muscle compared to women. And I can PERSONALLY attest to the fact that you are VERY much aware of that fact when you are training en pointe, with the rest of the girls, (not just acutely aware of it), but that not only would you have to work twice as hard to be able to get up onto pointe, but you also have to work twice as hard to be able to land (for example) as delicately as the girls/women do when THEY are en pointe.
There's a LOT that goes into the kinesology of male ballet dancers en pointe that is just often NOT talked about at all, nor has there been as many kinesology studies about it due to the fact that pointe training is not required for men, but I think that it should be at least a supplementary course.
You have a lot of strength to be able to catch a lot of air, but I remember having to retraining my delivery of the power, by attenuating it, just so that I would be able to take off and land on beat/with the music.
And if you are a strong jumper like I used to be -- do you have ANY idea how much control and training you have to put in to NOT just give ALL of your jumps full power? Where you PURPOSELY have to hold back BECAUSE going full bore on all of the jumps makes it that you take twice as long to get up as you do coming down.
And if you're doing sissous battements, where you can't depend on air time to get you through said sissous battements, then you are training the muscles in your legs to be able to react and "twitch" faster to be able to pull off the sissous battements.
SUPER challenging.
And sadly, not very many people are even remotely aware of these kinds of technical and technique challenges that male dancers who train en pointe, are faced with and/or have to deal/contend with.
Watching the clip at the end, that was a dancer, gender does not matter. This is a person that has worked hard for years at their craft, and the dedication shows. The footwork and frame are gorgeous, and I feel that its more than past time for male dancers to be in serious roles en pointe. I'll be keeping an eye out for when you tour in Florida.
This made me cry off the bat. ❤ Roberto you are an amazing person.
I recently started pointe as a male dancer and what's interesting I never heard of truckadoros (forgive me for I can't spell lol) until a teacher brought it up to me. I started doing it to strengthen my feet and legs for flat shoes, as well help me better understand how to to partner a woman. Then I started finding alot of contemporary dances on pointe and that inspired me to take it more seriously, I want to perform en pointe ❤️
Thats so cool,im so happy for you,doing something you love its amazing 💖❤💕 >😇🙏💖💕💞💓💓🤲❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍💫🩰🥰😍🤩🤭😘.
As someone relatively new to engaging in the ballet world, it was watching the video where Josephine fits some male dancers for the roles of the step sisters in Cinderella that it dawned on me that men don't dance en pointe in classical ballet. I'd never really thought about it, but from watching that video I realised that, and my very first thought was, why not? I'm so glad that Roberto is forging this path and following his love for ballet and pointe!
If I remember correctly en pointe wasn't even a thing for women in ballet since the beginning. Gradually extreme tiptoeing to create an illusion of weightlessness and efforts to visually elongate legs developed into en pointe and a separate dancing technique so to speak.
Since these were quite specific goals, that were set for the technique as in what it was supposed to convey it made little sense to encourage men to do it as it doesn't really highlight masculine attributes in a character. It just made more sense for women to have their daintiness and gentleness taken to the extreme and for men to project strength and being grounded - kind of a jing and jang or empasis by opposition.
I loved this post! I'm a guy and I too have been in pointe shoes a lot! I had good feet as well, and loved working and dancing on pointe. It really adds to the technique and to the stories we can create as male dancers. I could never use my skills in the repertoire companies that I danced for, so I wish Roberto the very best. I totally applaud the idea that male dancers can perform on pointe without being a joke and am looking forwards to seeing Roberto perform. I hope his company can come here to Amsterdam some time. Thank you Josephine, for sharing ;-)
As a male dancer, one of the things I’ve always wanted is to be taken seriously as a male dancer who wants to pursue point warms my heart to know that there is a man on point doing that and maybe one day I’ll for his company❤
His calf muscles are insane!! Such an amazing dancer!
The clip at the end with him dancing was magical. He is very elegant while dancing en point. It actually makes sense to have men wearing point shoes because they can do a larger variety of steps, movements (probably not using the proper terminology as I haven’t taken ballet classes even though I desperately wanted to as a child.) it also adds another level of elegance to their dancing. Also requires them to be more aware of how they dance and practice because they have to be much stronger especially in their feet to be able to go on point without damaging their feet and ankles.
Men en pointe look so strong and so beautiful, I can't wait to see more. What a great video Josephine.
I think he’s the most graceful male dancer I’ve seen
He brings such beauty to ballet through his movements and skill. He or any male ballet dancers en point should never be considered a joke. By adding men en point, it offers possibilities and exploration of a whole new realm! ❤
I honestly would love to see male dancers, dancing en pointe as men and dancing specific original choreography for that male role. Or also re-working certain classics to make a previously female only role to a male or trans or whomever role. Imagine Bluebird but with a male en pointe 💙
I imagine it would be interesting to see males en pointe in roles like a male spirit, maybe demon or in a slightly allegoric role depicting artistic male character or like a very driven and dynamic character (that kind of sweeps by)... I can see sense in that. It would still be more limited though, since with retaining masculinity it makes no sense to default to daintiness without the need to highlight some specific aspect of the role that can be better expressed with this technique.
His movements were like water, so elegant to watch
To be honest this is something I’ve thought of so many times when I watch classic ballet and I always think of how cool
Would
It be if male dancers could Aso go on point for some of their amazing movements and spins but be the male dancer still .. why not ?!classic ballet will always be classic ballet but thankfully we live in a world where we can explore and extend boundaries and created new frames of art and dance . That’s what creation is al about! Love your work Roberto
Thank you for introducing this man to us. I almost cried when I thought of all the iniquities he has to tolerate. As women I think we can relate to be undervalued or not being taken seriously. I loved seeing him dancing! He's delightful and I wish him happiness and acceptance.
why is no one talking about his calves? like whoah
OMG his arches are crazy beautiful! The strength in his legs and feet is insane!
There’s an older gentleman in my pointe class. He was so nervous when he started and wasn’t sure he’d be ok as he was a man. He’s so good at pointe work and it’s so amazing to see the ballet world become oh more inclusive.
My late Auntie who was a ballerina all of her life, even post-retirement from the stage, she coached, she taught...I took her to see the Trocks and she was ALL ABOUT how much fun it was and how amazing they were! And, they did her favorite piece "the Dying Swan" with the Trocks' spin...which charmed her and made her laugh so much. I got the chance to see them again almost 3 years after she died, and they did the Swan number and I was giggling and yet crying at the same time...
All the best to Ballet22!
I’ve been following Roberto for YEARS, and I am just so inspired by him! Thanks for making this video; the ballet world can still be so rigid in it’s customs that it seems inaccessible to lots of people of different races/genders/body types, and it’s so refreshing to see such an amount of acceptance from you and the people in these comments! It’s about time men are “allowed” on pointe in serious ballets and I hope we will see more of it soon! Loving you channel, and hope to see more and more videos like this ❤️
That's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I know there's a male pointe role in The Dream (the Royal Ballet have a video up talking about it - search for something like males on pointe under the Royal Opera House channel) and I think one of the Australian ballet companies had men on pointe for something though I don't remember what.
It's just really amazing to see a man doing something like this and doing it so well - Roberto looked *amazing* in that sequence at the end!!
IKR?! I watched it on a loop.
Just amazing! I always wondered what a male would look like dancing on point. Wish I could see what a male female couple on point looked like too but very thankful to have seen the video of Roberto at the end.
I can so see a man on pointe being masculine, strong, beautiful! I need this in my life.
Too bad that men cannot dance en pointe in male costumes or non-binary costumes. Why do they necessarily have to be in a tutu and in drag, and mainly for comedic effect? 😓
I've seen a Russian ballet company in Helsinki where there were only men dancing all the parts - this was already over 20 decades ago but It has stayed with me. It was made funny in parts choosing the smallest to lift the tallest, but they all were dancing seriously not overly in make up or comedic costumes. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
20 decades? that's 200 years 😳
What a beautiful and inspirational video! There is no reason men cannot be on pointe. Now all that is needed is choreographers ready to take on the challenge!
His dancing is exquisite! I wanted to see more. To me this is what dance is all about. Expression and freedom to take flight.
I’d love to see more male dancers en pointe in tradition masculine roles!! I think it would add another level of awesome and difficult to their performances
I really enjoyed watching him dance. There's beauty in watching the hard, brute strength of a man mastering the gentleness of dancing in a fragile easily breakable pointe shoe 💓
He looks like he was just born to dance en pointe. Beautiful
I was one of the few, if not, one of the only guys, when I was taking my ballet lessons, to be training en pointe.
(This was let's see....2007 maybe 2008 ish?)
I trained, on and off for about 5 years, often with the 10-12 year old girls (who were also all taking Pointe I).
The summer before that class, I asked the artistic director of the dance school, Mrs. Jennings, if I could take the summer (pointe) ballet intensive (which ran for about 3 weeks, I don't remember how often the classes ran -- whether it was 3 times a week or if it was only weekly), but she was worried that my ankles wouldn't be strong enough, but she let me try it anyways.
(I had been practicing how to rise up onto relevé and getting back down from it at home, and I figured that I would get a professional opinion before I severely injure myself.)
So, after doing the summer intensive for three weeks, the second-last class, I stopped by her office and asked what her professional opinion was, and she said that she was worried that my ankles wouldn't be strong enough to support me when I was up on full pointe, but I ended up NOT having that problem, so my doing the summer intensive alleviated this concern of hers (which would be a legitimate concern).
As such, I asked if she thinks that I would be okay to continue studying pointe, and she agreed to let me take the "regular" class, during the "regular" school year with the rest of the girls, and so I did.
I think that the parents of the girls were surprised in the beginning, but then got used it since we were grouped together by skill level and we all trained and studied together.
It was great!
The older girls at the school, at the time, thought that it was a little bit "unorthodox".
There was one younger girl (when we were having our Nutcracker auditions (which we affectionately called our "Nutty auditions"), (she was about 9 at the time, and I was 26 at the time), dreamed about when she would be able to start her pointe training and dancing on pointe shoes, and I said that I had mine, pulled them up, showed it to her, put them on, and then went up on relevé in first, and she was just like "WOWWWWW!!!!"
I still remember to this day -- just her sheer sense of wonder and excitement.
There are days that I miss it, and then there are also days that I remember how difficult pointe work actually is (and the pain that came with it).
I loved it. I still love it. But it's a memory now, as I am no longer training (not since I got married and had kids).
But I might get to live vicariously through my tiny human #2, if tiny human #2 (and most probably/most likely) will end up in ballet.
Male dancers can have just as much grace and flair as female dancers and I love that he's advocating for this. I'd love to see more men on pointe and in serious roles.
Me, too.
no they can't lol. they can try but some things are female/for women, not sure why men can just take and take and pretend they're as good or better than women. it's very typical though which is why feminism is important nowadays.
@@BoglimWrangler666 lol girl bye
@@BoglimWrangler666 that is wrong on so many levels
Why can't my feet be like that 😭 Or at least flexible enough to have my arch go over my toes
We all wish we had his feet! But he worked really hard for them too. Flexible feet aren't always strong so they have to work hard to control that range of motion.
Wow! He’s fantastic!
I love watching male ballet dancers, especially in solos. I have always imagined what a male dancer would look like if he were en pointe during the solo, with such strength and grace. Thank you Roberto and Josephine.
Thank you, Josephine!! For showing to the world that we exist 💛
Yes ive been waiting for this since im a male ballerina in quarantine and after quaratine,thinking of getting my 1st pair since im ready for pointe work but quarantine makes me stick to pre pointe work again ksksks
En pointe = athletic and artistic endeavour. No matter who does it.
This is really cool! That clip at the end, though! He does dance with grace, but there’s a certain power in his movements that doesn’t seem there in women dancers. This is awesome!
So beautiful! I love watching male dancers that can combine artistry with power.
Can you talk sometime about Natalia Osipova's shoes and how incredibly dead they always look and what that means for her feet/dancing?
I so agree with you. N. Osipova only concentrates on her over flexibility of legs, (which isn't so important in ballet, normal controlled flexibility is good) and sometimes her arms, but not on her feet. They do look very dead! And very often, so does her facial expression. Like a zombie. Especially in daily life. Scary and deeply sad. There is something extreemly depressing about her. And, I do think she dances ballet to overshadow a very deep wound somewhere. Not a happy person at all.
In an interview she said that she hates preparing pointe shoes so maybe that's why
Well, I’m thinking it can’t be too bad, as she is a ballerina in her thirties still considered as the best of the best. Or perhaps she just defies nature, and for regular people it would be a feet killer. While she is not my favorite current dancer, I do enjoy her performances a lot, and don’t have the confidence to say that she has a void or that she looks like a zombie while dancing.
I think maybe some people prefer their shoes like that. I know I do. I hate how hard brand new point shoes are. I like them more when they’re dead because they’re softer and more comfortable and easier to move in. The also support my foot more somehow. That could be the reason hers are dead???
YES I noticed this even from the audience while she was performing :/ her shoes just looked so crumpled and dirty! That really affected my perception of her overall look even from 20-40 feet away. She's such a beautiful, musical, accomplished dancer in every way, but I wish she'd have normal looking shoes that don't disrupt her line!
The Trocks have mad skills though. They are kind of the “Harlem Globetrotters” of the dance world.
Love this discourse. Thank you for the points you made and educating us. Thank you, also, Roberto, for being a trailblazer.
Gorgeous!!! I had always wondered why not both men and women danced en pointe, and I hadn't known there was such a stigma... Anyone should be able to dance however they want! It's an art that anyone should be able to participate in and feel good about themselves. Go Roberto! Spread the love and openness of dancing en pointe!
wowie! His Odette variation was gorgeous! It totally opens your eyes to new possibilities in dance. Thank you for sharing :)
that Odette variation at the end was INCREDIBLE!! Roberto absolutely nailed it!!!
Wow, he has so beautiful masculine legs.
I really hope that ballet will once and for all stop with the stigma that ballet dancers should be of prescribed sizes and genders. Well, not only ballet but also other dance categories.
In my country, we had a really strong jazz ballet dancers and teachers were obsessed with a really skinny figure so other shaped kids were almost not allowed to dance. Crazy.
Males en pointe I've seen were: the mother in La Fille Mal Gardée or the stepsisters in Cinderella. Yes they can have serious roles too! 🩰 Hope to do pointe too (even if I'm old 🤭)
And Roberto's manège en tours piqués is incredible!!!! 😯
Also Bottom the donkey in Ashton's The Dream.
@@JenInOz I don't know this one. Thanks for the share.
He moves so beautifully! Such strength and grace! 🩰🩰🩰
Roberto dancing in the end was magic. He has the most beautiful legs. Thank you Josephine for posting. You seem like the most gracious person - wish I were a dancer so I could buy shoes at your shop!
A lot of male dancers try pointe but immediately give up because of the PAIN! Some use topical anesthetics but you can seriously damage your feet if you can't tell you are smashing the hell out of them!
First time commenting. I did ballet/tap/tumbling when I was 6 and 7. I loved dance/movement, but didn't feel like dance or even figure skating loved me back. Trockaderos was actually the last live theater performance I saw before everything shut down for COVID. There was so much to appreciate, from athleticism, strength, discipline, grace, lovely partnering, expressive acting and brilliant comic timing. I was also so often absorbed in the beauty of their performance and visual storytelling, I could have just watched them perform ballet straight through without the camp, so thank you, Josephine, for the introduction to Roberto Vega and Male Ballerinas. Something also really touched me deeply to tears about seeing muscular bodies on pointe. I am Asian, quite curvy proportionately, and tend to build muscle, strength, and power quickly. I never thought I had a body for ballet or even traditional Chinese dances because the emphasis was on flexible slender white bodies for both dances, not muscular strong eventually busty bodies like mine. My body seemed defective. Watching male bodies of all sizes on stage made me cry to see bodies on stage that had muscle like me AND were graceful. I'm slowly trying to rebuild a healthy relationship with dance, one that is grounded and loves my body back.
His legs are DIVINE. What a beautiful dancer.
This was a facinating insight into male ballet dancers, and wow he's so elegant
Holy cow, that demonstration is insanely good! So encouraging and inspiring for those of us men looking to enjoy and pay homage to a beautiful, masterful expression of dance without being seen as a political or social statement.
Hits close home as a male ballet dancer. I always wanted to go on pointe in a serious way, but there is no “you’re ready for pointe/demi-pointe” for us unfortunately.
Wow. That is power and grace all rolled into fluid beauty. 💙
He is gorgeous to watch ❤
I think one would call a serious male dancer who’s en pointe a ballerino. I really think he could show us some wonderful dancing, seriously! I enjoyed watching the mini performance at the end of this video.
He is amazing! And so inspiring!
Just the build of his legs is beautiful.
You can tell there is a lot of strength in his legs, someone who doesn't skip legs day.
But his calves are just magnificent, they're shaped so differently from a bodybuilder's, it's muscular but shapely, so graceful.
Roberto's legs are goals.
I have always wondered why male ballet dancers didn't dance Pointe. They have such grace, power and elegance...why not!?
His explanation of how he loves dancing en pointe for drag, but also for himself made me tear up. I am so glad he's had the opportunity to explore pointe more and pave the way for other young dances who want to do the same!
His legs are gorgeous and his control is unbelievable! Just an amazing dancer👌🏼
I agree. A dancer can dance and express themselves any way they want to. I would love to see his solo show.
The clip at the end is MAGIC ! Bravissimo Roberto ! So strong and balanced 😱
I love those brand new, fresh looking vamps! They look so much cleaner and aesthetically pleasing
Wow! That's very true! And that dance at the end of the video was just beautiful, and proof of how amazing pointe work can be!
I absolutely love this!! So eye opening. I feel like a big issue is the repertoire and also the culture of ballet. Yes it's hard to find a serious en pointe role for a male, but at the same time, female ballerinas are also harshly judged by their lines and body shape without even having the added layer of being male. It's gotta be exponentially harder to forge ur way as male en pointe dancers with very limited repertoire.
WOW who else got chills watching him dance at the end??? that was beautiful.
I can only imagine what is possible with that amount of strength in their feet. Now I want to go look him up and see him dance!
He has such artistry & beautiful lines! I don’t find seeing him en pointe as feminine at all! He looks so strong, graceful & beautiful 😻
What’s funny is the fact that ballet was strictly all male in its beginnings.
All that power on those legs. But still looking like a feather. It's mind blowing
Roberto you are an amazing dancer! Please keep dancing no matter what!
I love your channel and videos so much, but this has to be my favorite by far. Thank you for the inclusivity and open mind 🖤
This is great! I love how strong his feet are. It looks amazing.
This was a good video!
I love Roberto! I remember taking with him before he left PR about his struggles to learn pointe in a place that didn't accept him wanting to learn. I love seeing how far he's come from dancing variations in his house! Way to go Roberto! ❤
HIS CALFS HOLY- I'm so blown away by this strength
Wow....Roberto, you area great inspiration and proud for all males, latinos/latinas, and 🇵🇷!
I think this is my favorite fitting that I’ve seen you do!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
This is eye-opening! Thank you for sharing. I never thought about it before but yeah... why can’t men dance en pointe? It’s a new frontier to conquer. An incredible opportunity for innovative choreography. This is really great.
This video is amazing! I have to admit that before seeing this I was not a fan of male dancers en pointe. This definitely opened my eyes! I can't wait to watch male ballerinas!!
Wow the strength in those feet!!! 😱
I think ANYONE who can dance en pointe is amazing!
Roberto's dancing was beautiful! His feet,beautiful! Thank you for this video.
I did not realize that male ballet dancers do NOT dance on pointe, usually....great to see him dance!!! I am an amateur in equality ballroom dancing and I love the effect it has, when a man dances the traditionally female role and, in my case, vice versa. It opens up new opportunities and expressions for traditonal interpretations in dancing😘