The ballet studio has historically had rigid gender-normative standards. But making it a space where artists of all genders feel affirmed and respected in their identities will only enrich the art form. “I think to have an interesting future for ballet requires developing creative humans that can play,” says educator and Ballez founder Katy Pyle. […]

Even five years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine that there would be a number of openly nonbinary dancers at prominent ballet companies.

Katy Pyle’s latest piece for Ballez explores “Coppélia”’s history as a travesty ballet and features an entirely trans and nonbinary cast.

This month, festivals are unfolding in the Bay Area and thought-provoking premieres are making their debuts in New York City—and it’s all available to watch online. Meanwhile, across the pond, a show that got its start as a livestreamed event is being adapted for live, in-person audiences. Here’s what we have our eye on. Drawing […]

A flock of polyamorous princes, a chorus of queer dying swans, a dominatrix witch: These are a few of the characters that populate the works of Katy Pyle, who, with her Brooklyn-based company Ballez, has been uprooting ballet’s gender conventions since 2011. Historically, ballet has not allowed for the expression of lesbian, transgender or gender-nonconforming […]

I’m a transgender ballet dancer (male to female) who desperately wants to perform in a professional company. I haven’t come out about my gender because I’m afraid it will hurt my career. Yet it feels wrong to do male variations and have my teachers tell me to be more masculine. What can I do? —Anonymous […]

For Sean Dorsey, the dance studio used to be a source of pain that had nothing to do with dancing. “I would go to the women’s dressing room and change there,” he says. “That was, every day, this kind of knife in my heart.” Though the classes thrilled him, having to use facilities that didn’t […]

Women make up the vast majority of the dance world. Yet it’s no secret that they’re routinely passed over for leadership positions and choreography commissions, confronted with sexism in the studio and stymied by expectations of how female artists should look and behave. Here, 10 industry leaders open up, candidly sharing their stories, and offering […]