Bibliography & further reading.
This collection brings together sources that have informed my research into gender, training and leadership in ballet. It began with the bibliography for my 2025 MA research, “Invisible Barriers, Visible Change”, and is updated as the research develops.
If you’ve recently attended one of my lectures or presentations, this is also a place to find and revisit the research referenced in the room.
A
ANGYAL, C. (2017)
“Behind the tutus, ballet is a boys’ club. This ballerina wants to fix that.”
HuffPost.
ANGYAL, C. (2021)
Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself.
New York, NY: Bold Type Books.
ARCELUS, J., WITCOMB, G.L. & MITCHELL, A. (2014)
“Prevalence of eating disorders amongst dancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.”
European Eating Disorders Review, 22(2), pp. 92–101.
AWA DANCE (2025)
Leadership Gender Balance in the UK Dance Sector: Research Report March 2025.
B
BAUER, C. (2024)
“Leroy Mokgatle lives her dream at Staatsballett Berlin.”
Dance Magazine, 1 December 2024.
BURKE, S. (2018)
“Ashley Bouder, the feminist ballerina with a mission.”
The New York Times, 29 June 2018.
BURT, R. (2007)
The Male Dancer: Bodies, Spectacle, Sexualities.
2nd edn. London: Routledge.
C
CLEGG, H., OWTON, H. & ALLEN-COLLINSON, J. (2017)
“Challenging conceptions of gender: UK dance teachers’ perceptions of boys and girls in the ballet studio.”
Research in Dance Education, 19(2), pp. 128–139.
CLEMENTS, L. & NORDIN-BATES, S.M. (2020)
“Inspired or inhibited? Choreographers’ views on how classical ballet training shaped their creativity.”
Journal of Dance Education, pp. 1–12.
D
DANCE DATA PROJECT (2024)
English Speaking Company 2023/2024 Season Programming Report.
DANCE DATA PROJECT (2024)
Largest Ballet Leadership Report 2024.
DANCE DATA PROJECT (2025)
Global Leadership Report 2025.
DEFRANK-COLE, L. & NICHOLSON, R.K. (2016)
“The slow-changing face of leadership in ballet: An interdisciplinary approach to analysing women’s roles.”
Leadership and the Humanities, 4(2), pp. 73–91.
E
EXLEY, C.L. & KESSLER, J.B. (2019)
The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion.
NBER Working Paper No. 26345. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
EZRAHI, C. (2012)
Swans of the Kremlin: Ballet and Power in Soviet Russia.
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
F
FARNSLEY, S. (2022)
“Entrenched inequality: Hierarchy, hegemony, and the role of gender in ballet.”
Journal of Performing Arts Leadership in Higher Education, 13, pp. 24–31.
FELTHAM, L.E. & RYAN, C. (2022)
“Exploring pedagogical practices for engaging boys in ballet.”
Journal of Dance Education, 22(4), pp. 223–232.
FISHER, J. (2009)
“Maverick men in ballet – Rethinking the ‘making it macho’ strategy.”
In Fisher, J. & Shay, A. (eds.), When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 31–45.
G
GARAFOLA, L. (1985)
“The travesty dancer in nineteenth-century ballet.”
Dance Research Journal, 17(2), pp. 35–40.
GARAFOLA, L. (1999)
“Reconfiguring the sexes.”
In Garafola, L. & Van Norman Baer, N. (eds.), The Ballets Russes and Its World.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
GREEN, J. (2000)
“Emancipatory pedagogy?: Women’s bodies and the creative process in dance.”
Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies, 21(3), pp. 124–140.
GRUNDSTROM, J. (2020)
The Female Leadership Experience in Pre-Professional and Professional Ballet.
Master’s thesis. Northern Michigan University.
H
HOMANS, J. (2010)
Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet.
London: Granta.
I
IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF TEACHERS OF DANCING (2022)
Supporting Inclusivity in the Studio.
K
KAVANAGH, J. (2007)
Rudolf Nureyev: The Life.
London: Fig Tree (Penguin).
KELLY, C. (2015)
“Dancing up the glass escalator: Institutional advantages for men in ballet choreography.”
Columbia Undergraduate Research Journal, 2.
KETTLEY-LINSELL, H., SANDFORD, R. & COATES, J. (2022)
“Negotiating gender performances in physical education and school sport: Gender diversity and inclusive practices.”
In Witcomb, G. & Peel, E. (eds.), Gender Diversity and Sport: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
London: Routledge, pp. 97–116.
KIRKLAND, G. & LAWRENCE, G. (1986)
Dancing on My Grave.
London: Penguin Books.
L
LANGUAGE, PLEASE (no date)
Gender.
LUND, R. (2022)
“How is the ballet world including non-binary dancers?”
Dance Major Journal, 10(1).
M
MEGLIN, J.A. & BROOKS, L.M. (2012)
“Where are all the women choreographers in ballet?”
Dance Chronicle, 35(1), pp. 1–7.
N
NORMAN, N. (2015)
“Tamara Rojo: ‘I became a dancer because I needed to disappear’.”
The Stage, 18 December 2015.
P
PASCOGUIN, G. (2021)
Swan Dive: The Making of a Rogue Ballerina.
New York: Henry Holt and Company.
PICKARD, A. (2012)
“Schooling the dancer: The evolution of an identity as a ballet dancer.”
Research in Dance Education, 13(1), pp. 25–46.
PICKARD, A. (2013)
“Ballet body belief: Perceptions of an ideal ballet body from young ballet dancers.”
Research in Dance Education, 14(1), pp. 3–19.
PICKARD, A. (2018)
“Exploring embodiment through choreographic practice.”
Frontiers in Psychology, 9, article 1920.
POLASEK, K.M. & ROPER, E.A. (2011)
“Negotiating the gay male stereotype in ballet and modern dance.”
Research in Dance Education, 12(2), pp. 173–193.
R
RISNER, D. (2014)
“Bullying victimisation and social support of adolescent male dance students: An analysis of findings.”
Research in Dance Education, 15(2), pp. 179–201.
S
SOUZA, M.T.O., PEDROSO, B., DOS REIS, F.D.G. & CAPRARO, A.M. (2022)
“Ballet, gender and sexuality: A systematic review in the Scopus and Web of Science databases.”
Research in Dance Education, 23(4), pp. 425–442.
STINSON, S.W. (2005)
“The hidden curriculum of gender in dance education.”
Journal of Dance Education, 5(2), pp. 51–57.
W
WINSHIP, L. (2024)
“‘How far do you go in the depiction of gay lovemaking?’: Christopher Wheeldon on his new Oscar Wilde ballet.”
The Guardian, 11 September 2024.
WIRTH, L.M. (2022)
Cultural, Political, and Choreographic Developments of Feminism in Classical Ballet.
Honours thesis. Butler University.
WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER (2019)
“The ballet world is still male-dominated, research shows.”