Dance world responded en masse to Lara Spencer mocking Prince George for studying ballet

The New York Times

As New York Times dance critic Gia Kourlas points out, the Good Morning America anchor didn't even pronounce "ballet" correctly when she mocked Prince George. "She pronounced it, 'BAH-lay,'" writes Kourlas. "How could ballet be the punch line of this story in 2019?" said Kourlas. Is it not more surprising that a 6-year-old would study computer programming?" Kourlas adds. "And starting ballet young is smart: It takes at least 10 years to develop a classical dancer. But, of course, the problem isn’t George’s age; it’s his gender. Perhaps the saddest part about the segment was how apparent it was that Ms. Spencer didn’t think that she had done anything inappropriate by shaming a boy for wanting to study a centuries-old art form. Or for perpetuating a tired, homophobic stereotype: that ballet is not a suitable profession for men. The online response from the ballet world was swift and vehement, from institutions like the Vail Dance Festival and San Francisco Ballet, and especially from dancers, including the stars Robbie Fairchild, Ashley Bouder and James Whiteside." Kourlas pointed out that Spencer's Instagram apology, accompanied by a photo of a field of wildflowers, "made it seem more like a sappy greeting card than a sincere apology." Even George Takei responded to Spencer, tweeting: "It shows that ‘toxic masculinity’ can be spread viciously by insensitive women, too.”