Back at the Ahmanson, the transformatn of Tchaikovsky's ballet to a gay romance still electrifi wh heartfelt drama and spectacular dancg.
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HOW A GROUP OF GAY MALE BALLET DANCERS IS RETHKG MASCULY
In 2017, the pote shoe maker Gaynor Mn beme the first to offer slippers shas matchg a variety of darker sk ton. “It’s been 10 years sce I joed the pany, and I never thought that I would actually be able to portray a character who was so close to my own life, my own story, and my own journey,” he says.“This beg a gay work, I wanted to make sure that everyone the st was also gay.
“I wanted to make sure that I was offerg an opportuny for a gay person to fally play a role that rembled the life that they lead.”João Menegsi and Calv Royal III Photo: Courty of ABTBorn Jamai, Rudd began his dancg reer Miami at the age of ne. Last October, ught the attentn of Kev McKenzie, artistic director of Amerin Ballet Theatre, who asked Rudd to create a ballet for ABT’s repertory.“The next day I was watchg dancers take class at Lln Center, onstage at the Koch Theater, and h me that I wanted to e this platform to highlight te gay love,” Rudd says. “I saw the men dance across the stage, and I realized this was actually the perfect place to explore this work.” A year earlier, he had choreographed a male-female pas ux for his own pany, and s “overenthiastic” rponse was all the enuragement he need to create a work that more closely rembled his own love stori.To st Touché wh gay dancers, Rudd turned to Instagram, bg through profil of dancers for evince of their romantic liv.
“We would spend full days workg on character velopment,” Royal says, “stg and talkg about our journeys as dancers; as openly gay men the ballet world, and what that experience was like; what our g out experienc were like; how we sort of navigated the challeng; and when we felt like we fally embraced ourselv, who we are, and what we stand for.” A still om TouchéPhoto: Courty of Matador ContentAt jt ls than 30 mut long, Touché follows the journey of two young men whose worlds crash to each other. Like a butterfly’s metamorphosis, Rudd’s piece spans the stag of a gay man’s journey to self-acceptance—om piercg uncertaty to unfortable enunters to peace wh one's own’s sk.