Ballet History through a Queer Lens
Category: Oral Presentation
Author(s): Oliver Myers
Presenter(s): Oliver Myers
Mentors(s): Leah Holz
My Honors Thesis explores ballet history with a focus on queer themes, culture, and figures. I am conducting intensive research, through a combination of literature review and creative research on the queer history of ballet. This research is important because ballet history, as taught in the 21st century, relies upon cisheteronormativity to uphold a status quo within modern day ballet culture and industry. There is a growing body of queer ballet work and an increasing number of professional ballet dancers who openly discuss and perform their queer identities. However, these instances are often presented as novel to ballet. My research indicates that queer culture has long impacted and intertwined with ballet history. Herein lies the question central to this research: "how does the history of ballet demonstrate that cisheteronormativity is not foundational to the artform?" I will synthesize this research by creating an easily accessible virtual archive or reference of queer ballet history. It is important that this resource is easily accessible to an audience outside of academia because much of ballet education is conducted at private studios. To fulfill the Honors Thesis requirements, my final written component will be a literature review which presents the information collected for the virtual reference in a more academic format. I also plan for this research to be the foundational dramaturgy to support my Dance Capstone Concert work, which I will complete in the fall semester of 2025.