History Main / DaintyLittleBalletDancers

* There's a ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenace'' comic book story, "Ballet is Okay", where Dennis attends Margaret's ballet school (his parents think it'll influence him to take an interest in culture). Instead, he learns some "new fighting tricks" from a fellow student who takes a ''grand jete'' out of the way when Dennis tries to hit him.

* After a lousy Philadelphia Eagles game, a Yahoo commenter snidely declared "The Eagles played like they were wearing tutus." Incensed, a dancer for the Pennsylvania Ballet wrote a blistering editorial describing how incredibly difficult the life of a ballerina was, capping it off by declaring, "No, the Eagles did ''not'' play like they were wearing tutus. If they had, Chip Kelly would still be head coach and we'd all be looking forward to the playoffs."

Even though ballerinas are the most usual example, male dancers get this just as often, despite the fact that they need to be strong enough to so much as lift their partners overhead with the maximum level of gracefulness possible (compare this with ProfessionalWrestling, in which doing exactly the same is relegated to the physically strongest workers in the ring!). Ballerinas are usually just as strong themselves muscle-wise in their lower bodies, as they need it to leap very high and land harmoniously without the natural, crouchy moves that make it easier for the rest of mortals. In addition, they need to have the foot strength and balance necessary to spend a great deal of time on literal tip-toes without falling over, sometimes as the starting or ending point of said high leaps.

This trope is full of UnfortunateImplications, both because it underplays the physical aspect of ballet and because it reinforces old, sexist ideas of manhood, making any man who does ballet a "sissy."

They're ballet dancers. They're participants in a traditionally feminine activity. So they've got to be delicate, almost ethereal fairy-like creatures, right?

''Literature/AngelinaBallerina'' has, in the first book, the dancing mouse girls described as practicing curtsies and pliés, skipping and twirling, and running around "like fairies". Most of their ballet performances involve fairies, princesses, or flowers.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/AngelinaBallerina''.

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'': Gru's three adorable little daughters are all tough in different ways. But they all take their ballet seriously enough to tell Gru flat out that his plans don't trump their ballet classes. They wear white tutus for ''Swan Lake'', and their pink tutus and shoes for the DancePartyEnding of the movie.

[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swan-lake_270.png]]

Simply put, this is when ballet dancers are portrayed as delicate little flowers of femininity, even though in RealLife ballet is by its very nature as physically taxing as most contact sports, if not more than the lightest ones (the most famous example is Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme, who took up both ballet and UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} while growing up and is usually fast to point out the former as the hardest). Long time injuries in legs and toes are a perennial bane of ballet dancers after just relatively short careers, and they sometimes ensure a life of complications and pain even after retiring.

This trope is full of UnfortunateImplications, both because it underplays the physical aspect of ballet and because it reinforces old, sexist ideas of manhood, making any man a "sissy" who does ballet.

!!Examples

%%* Possibly Film/BillyElliot.

* In ''Film/FightingWithMyFamily'' Saraya initially looks down on her fellow female trainees who had dancing and cheerleading backgrounds. It's subverted when they're shown to be in better physical condition than her.

--> In the climactic scene, the lead ballerina got picked up by one of the male dancers, who was apparently supposed to waft her effortlessly offstage, but he had trouble keeping her aloft, plus her tutu blocked his vision, so he lunged forward, building up a head of steam, and rammed her headfirst smack into the hedge. Then he backed up, changed course slightly and ran her into the hedge ''again'', before he managed to stagger offstage, shrubbery clinging to both their costumes. I was moved to ''tears''.
* Ivy Carson in Creator/ZilphaKeatleySnyder's ''The Changeling'' ''looks'' like this, and even believes she might be an actual fairy changeling. She is also quite sure she was a dancer in several reincarnations and wants to return to ballet in this life. Occasionally she is able to take classes with an elderly retired dancer from the Bolshoi, whom we can assume fills her in on what is physically required.
* Averted in ''Literature/GoingPostal'', where a discussion about whether the Post Office chandelier that was stolen by the Assassins Guild or the one that was stolen by the Opera House would be safer to retrieve concludes "Some of those ballerinas can kick like a mule."

--> ''But everything was beautiful at the ballet''
--> ''Graceful men with lovely girls in white''

%%* WesternAnimation/AngelinaBallerina.
* In a episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Gazoo teaches Fred some rudimentary ballet to improve his bowling skills. They try to do it in secret, but Fred's friends find out anyway and have a good laugh. Ultimately, the poise and precision Fred acquired while learning ballet made him an excellent bowler.

* Pearl's appearance, fighting style and low self-esteem in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' emulate this trope, basing her on the traditional ballet dancer. Averted, as while her lanky appearance make her seem delicate, she is much stronger than any human, and is able to hold her own against monsters and other gems.
* A singalong segment of ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' has John ask Ringo for something to fit a romantic ballad. He emerges in a male ballet suit and slippers, and with [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics fluttering eyelashes]], says "I'm a [[{{Malaproper}} ballad]] dancer!"
* Deconstructed in ''{{WesternAnimation/Recess}}'' when Spinelli is initially forced to take ballet lessons by her mother - who wants her to be more feminine. Spinelli is repulsed by the GirlPosse who fit the stereotype, but then discovers her friend Mikey does it and agrees to be his partner. While she gets cold feet at the idea of performing in front of her school (fearing for her tomboy reputation), she goes ahead with the performance and impresses everyone with the choreography.[[/folder]]

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* Another humorous inversion in the form of numerous images of gorillas, bears, and other scary animals wearing tutus all over the Internet.

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* Averted on ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' in Season 5's ballet challenge. As the contestants were all men and/or trans women, even the shorter queens were anything but dainty. However, the winner of that challenge, Alyssa Edwards, is a professional choreographer in her day job and was naturally flawless in her performance. Season 11 finalist (and future host of ''Canada's Drag Race''), Brook Lynne Heights, is also a seasoned ballet performer, having mastered both the male and female dance forms. She even shows off her skills by doing a runway walk ''en pointe''.

* Deconstructed in ''{{WesternAnimation/Recess}}'' when Spinelli is initially forced to take ballet lessons by her mother - who wants her to be more feminine. Spinelli is repulsed by the GirlPosse who fit the stereotype, but then discovers her friend Mikey does it and agrees to be his partner. While she gets cold feet at the idea of performing in front of her school (fearing for her tomboy reputation), she goes ahead with the performance and impresses everyone with the choreography.
* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus''. Wanda is implied to be a self-taught ballet dancer in "Holiday Special", but at the same time [[/folder]]

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* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus''. Wanda is implied to be a self-taught ballet dancer in "Holiday Special", but at the same time she's a PintSizedPowerhouse, as "Going Batty" demonstrates.

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* After a lousy Philadelphia Eagles game, a Yahoo commenter snidely declared "The Eagles played like they were wearing tutus." Incensed, a dancer for the Pennsylvania Ballet wrote a blistering editorial describing how incredibly difficult the life of a ballerina was, capping it off by declaring, "No, the Eagles did ''not'' play like they were wearing tutus. If they had, Chip Kelly would still be head coach and we'd all be looking forward to the playoffs."

* In the first ''Literature/DianaTregarde'' novel, Diana mentions that while she studied ballet in her youth, she gave up her dreams of doing it professionally after reading the autobiography of a former dancer and got to a chapter about how to bandage one's feet so that when the blisters on your toes burst, they won't stain your pointe shoes. Not ''if'', ''when''.