Sascha Radetsky in Newsweek

Sascha Radetsky is the author of this week’s My Turn column in Newsweek. In it he makes the case for male ballet dancers, or, rather rails against the male-dancer-bashers. Thanks to Danciti for finding it. I wish I could say it’s passe given all the male dancers on TV these days, but can I? I definitely think “Dancing With the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance” have significantly decreased the stigma against male dancers in general, and I feel like that has to affect the world of ballet. Danny Tidwell may have somewhat downplayed his ballet background on SYTYCD, but has anyone watched Lifetime’s new show, “Your Mama Don’t Dance”? Last Friday showcased the male contestants dancing with their mothers. All of them (the male dancers that is) had ballet background, and they proudly announced this, thanking their mums for taking them to classes when they were little, encouraging them, etc. Host Ian Ziering, who’d complained of looking “girly” when learning Latin on DWTS, went nuts over the first guy to dance — Jonathan Silver — whose ballet training in his “contemporary” number was obvious. No one talked one iota about stigmas they faced when they chose a life of dance, then or now. That’s gotta say something…