By being able to do so -- by actually doing so -- he also changed the role of ballet in society and the role of classical male dancers in society. This change was certainly not an enormous one, but in the context of gender relations and the role of high art in society during his lifetime, it was startling (Ramsay, 1995).

Audiences in Nijinsky's era rejected the legitimacy of masculinity in ballet; that is, they reject the possibility that true masculinity could ever be evident in the bodies of male dancers. Travesty performances, in which gender was treated with as much scorn and derision as race was in black-face performances (which come somewhat later than the travesty performances, but only just) were a society-wide affirmation that only certain gender expressions were acceptable and that the ones performed on the stage of classical dance would be considered acceptable to the audience...
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