Australia‘s push to raise the barre for boys in ballet

WHEN the hulking All Blacks rugby team is doing it, it’s probably time to change some misconceptions about boys in ballet.

Oliver Trus joins ballet buddies (from left) Kayla, Tali and Lauren for a fun moment away from the serious business of mock exams. Pictures: Rohan Kelly

YOU couldn’t blame little boys in ballet classes for feeling a bit lost in a frothy sea of tutus and tiaras.

But little Oliver Trus, joining his classmates for their exams at the Royal Academy of Dance in Darlinghurst, doesn’t seem to mind. He’s right at home.

And Oliver could soon find quite a few more boys in his class, thanks to revolutionary new ideas driving an international campaign to show that boys and men in tights are fitter and stronger.

Oliver takes to the air in convincing style during preparations for his end-of-year assessment at the Royal Academy of Dance headquarters at Darlinghurst.

Underlining it is the theory that ballet training increases prowess in traditionally macho sports such as rugby and body building, by developing core strength, stamina, balance and fitness.

It’s an idea strongly supported by Matthew Lawrence, a former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet and the UK’s Royal Birmingham Ballet.

He is the Australian ambassador for a concerted push by the famed Royal Academy of Dance to raise the barre and get more boys into ballet by RAD’s centenary in 2020.

Oliver takes his place at the barre. The RAD is encouraging boys to try ballet.

“A lot of sportsmen are actually coming to ballet for training,” Lawrence said.

They don’t come more hulking than the All Blacks rugby team. But, surprisingly, ballet training is an established part of their physical training regimen, Lawrence said.

“The All Blacks trained with the Royal New Zealand Ballet recently on how to lift.

“The mechanics of how men lift women is really useful for how they break down their lineout jumps,” Lawrence said.

In the AFL, Collingwood defender Ben Reid overcame an injury in 2015 by training with expert coaches from The Australian Ballet.

A dance the All Blacks are better known for — the haka.

And at the height of his Mr Olympia fame, in the mid-1970s, Arnold Schwarzenegger perfected his body building poses by doing ballet work. But despite the sports benefits of ballet, only 1.8 per cent of RAD’s global exam candidates are male, according to RAD Australia marketing manager Nichola Hall.

RAD, whose patron is Queen Elizabeth II, has just launched Project B (that’s B for boys) in Australia, and is beefing up its offering of male-only classes with inspiring male teachers. These will take place in Sydney in February.

As well, RAD has launched an app in which Birmingham Royal principal dancer Iain Mackay demonstrates his own choreography inspired by superheroes and sports stars.

Principal dancer Matthew Lawrence says a lot of sportsmen practice ballet for strength.

Lawrence as The Prince in a production of Cinderella.

Boys can contribute their own versions of Mackay’s steps to RAD’s international online “mashup”.

“It feels like this general movement that everybody is trying to encourage, and embrace young male dancers in the industry at the moment,” Hall said.

“In January I have got already 50 boys subscribed for the first of the (Project B) workshops. For those boys that are usually the only one in their class, it’s going to be a fantastic experience.”

Hall said male ballet dancers are cranking up the level of athletic feats, and contemporary choreography is offering them roles which show off their dynamism.

“No longer is a male dancer just supporting the female,” she said. “There has never been a better time to be a male ballet dancer.”

An Australian Rugby Union spokesman said the Wallabies didn’t do ballet. But he didn’t rule out taking a leotard from the All Blacks’ locker room.

“Maybe that’s why we’re not beating them as often,” he said.