So, I've been dancing ballet for about a year now. I don't consider myself much of a dancer (I'm primarily an actor/singer/writer), but that's beside the point. As a bit of background, I've been living full-time as male and on T for four years.

The first thing you may notice about male ballet dancers is that they wear tights. Very tight, form-fitting tights. Now, by transguy standards, I feel that I have a very masculine body: broad shoulders, muscles (biceps and calves and other such accoutrements), body hair/facial hair and I'm probably about average transguy height (5'7"-ish). However, compared to cisguys, my thighs and butt are a little...shapely. Not feminine, but just thick for a guy, with tiny fat deposits that aren't terribly noticeable, but that definitely shouldn't be there, but to mention I defffiiinnnniiittteeellllyyyy have a butt. Not a girly butt, but not a dude butt, either. And despite all the watching of the diet and the trips to the gym, they're STILL THERE. As a transsexual person, it is distracting to look in the mirrors and watch my dancing only to be distracted by my own unsatisfactory form (especially when my friend, a cisguy, is skinny as a rail and looks unquestionably masculine in his tights next to me).

The next thing if that teachers encourage us to wear fitted tee shirts to dance in. Luckily, I am not very big (probably a B cup? I don't even know...refused to wear bras back in the day), and I have excellent binders. However, binders do not hide everything. It looks like I have disproportionately huge pecs that are in a weird place, but again, it's not enough to be noticeable; it just looks odd.

And then there is the question of the D. As with most pre-op transguys, I do not have a bulge significant enough to help me pass (especially in tights), so like any cisguy dancer, I have to wear a dance belt (Google it). I wear the thong kind. Yesterday, I was running low on time, so I pulled my dance belt on in a hurry and it split something in half that I'd rather not say the name of. I may not have a penis from taking T, but T does cause other things to...grow. I did not notice what I had done to myself and how uncomfortable it was until I got into the studio. Of course, one cannot simply run out and fix their dance belt, so I danced for an 1 1/2 with it fitting like that. Other than that, it was a wonderful class.

And that is a day in the life of a trans-dancer. Felt like sharing.

Wow thanks for this post, I've actually been starting to think about what I'm going to do in ballet when I start to transition and it's already stressing me out. I'm glad there's another dancer on here. Right now I'm still presenting as a girl and while I love dancing in pointe shoes I can't wait till I go on T and I'll be able to the giant jumps and turns the guys are expected to do.

How did you get into dance?

Hurrah fellow trans dancers! I had the opposite problem post-transition. I moved to a different city and I remember my dance teachers being impressed by my "athleticism" but criticized my style as being too "militaristic." Basically I just didn't do any of the little girlie flourishes and I still don't like them regardless of what my gender is. Eventually I ended up doing mostly modern and was happy.

Of course, small boobs and not having hips are pluses for dancers so I fit right in post-transition!

What a wonderful world it is in the 21st Century!!!

I am a 59 year old theatre grad who studied modern dance and corporeal mime in my youth and my 20s. I went on to other things and have just now gotten back, taking some ballet boot camps and having a lot of fun getting fit with Jazzercise. I know my dance / mime days are long gone but wanted to wish you well. There are so many "unfixable" anatomical differences (eg height and bone structure)that hinder a career that I am astounded that anything outside of the more theatrical forms would be professionally possible for transmen and transwomen.

If you are not on a professional track, what's keeping you from coming out? Dance and theatre are usually quite open communities....