| This paper examines male dancers and their performances of masculinity specifically in the American concert dance forms of ballet and modern. Chapters include the roots of American masculinity, how the male dancing body differs from the female (anatomically as well as culturally and psychologically) as well as the history of the dance belt, the stereotypes and stigma of the male dancer, and the power and vulnerability of the male dancing body. Interspersed between the research presented in this paper are personal accounts of my own experiences as a male dancer as well as written documentation my choreographic process which led to the premiere of a related, evening-length dance work entitled A Man's World?. |
