Strictly Come Dancing Star Dame Darcy Bussell has claimed that female ballet dancers are finding it hard to keep up with the men. Dame Bussell added that shows such as Strictly, where she is a judge and choreographers such as Sir Matthew Bourne had 'broken down barriers.' Darcy Bussell previously remarked in 2017 that: 'Suddenly male dancers have become this extraordinary talent and we can't get enough of them.' Another well-known male ballet dancer is Hull-born Xander Parish who became the first British dancer employed by the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg. In Russia and Cuba there has never been stigma about being a male ballet dancer, yet the stereotype of ballet as female has proven hard to shake off in the UK, until now.

Source: Daily Mail April 01, 2019 09:15 UTC