Dating Advice From Ballet Dancers

Claire, 24

Do you have a special seduction dance?
No. I just take off all my clothes. Except socks — my feet get cold. That usually works really well.

Do you tolerate a date who has no rhythm?
I can tolerate it, but it's better if they do.

What is the best ballet for a date?
Dracula. There's blood, and half-naked girls rolling around on the floor. A guy looks good because he's taking a girl to the ballet, but then there's plenty of eye candy for him too.

Is it kosher to sleep with people in your troupe?
Everyone in the ballet company is attractive, we work really closely together and we're in very little clothing most of the time, so company relations are inevitable. As long as you don't mind drama, it's totally kosher. Almost all the straight guys have slept with two or three of the girls.

What is the definition of true love?
Your best friend who you can share everything with and whose clothes you want to rip off every time you see them.

Do Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty offer any valid lessons in the art of courtship?
They are awful! In all those old story ballets, the man does something awful and betrays the woman and she suffers and usually dies for that stupid asshole.

John-Michael, 26

Do you have a special seduction dance?
As a classically trained dancer most of my dance moves aren't really "sexy," although I have been known to show off just for fun in a bar, and that has occasionally opened the door to communication.

Sore muscles and bloody feet are a big part of being a dancer. Does this ever interfere with hanky panky?
Not unless the other party has a problem with bloody feet. Hanky panky usually helps with the release of endorphins and all.

Do you tolerate a date who has no rhythm?
Depends on where they lack rhythm. On the dance floor it's all good. In the bedroom. . .

What's the best ballet for a date? Is The Nutcracker way too commercial?
The best ballet for a date is one you can understand. If you leave and have nothing to talk about after, then that was a wasted date. The Nutcracker isn't really too commercial for a date, but maybe a little family-oriented.

I've been told straight men in ballet have major odds in their favor. Is this substantiated? Do straight male ballet dancers get mad play?
Yes and no. If a male dancer wants to be a whore he certainly can, but as a male that spends so much time with the girls, you also run the risk of entering the dreaded "Friend Zone," from which few have ever returned.

What advice would you give to a person who loves clubs but is embarrassed to dance? How can they warm up to booty shaking?
Don't worry about what other people think, because if they're watching you, they're not dancing, and if they're not dancing, they probably can't, which is why they want to make fun of you, since you're having the great time they wish they were having.

Miranda, 25

Sore muscles and bloody feet are a big part of being a dancer. Does this ever interfere with hanky panky?
Sometimes you have to get creative. If your feet are bloody, you're not going to do it standing. Knees bruised? You're gonna have to sixty-nine tonight. You can work around almost any type of pain. Most dancers have had some sort of serious injury in their career, and you haven't experienced awkwardness in bed until you're tried to have sex with your leg in a cast. Honestly, the main problem most dancers have in bed is fatigue. We use so much energy in our jobs that sometimes you just don't have anything left at the end of the day. I don't know a single dancer who hasn't passed out in the middle of sex once or twice.

Do you tolerate a date who has no rhythm?
Oh God, that is the worst. When a guy has no sense of rhythm and can't move in general, that is an instant turn-off. I mean, if you can't shake it with the music, how are you gonna shake it in the sheets?

What is the best ballet to take a date?
I'd go for Swan Lake, Giselle, or Romeo and Juliet, a real tear-jerker romantic tragedy. Now if it's your first date, it's better to stick to something more tame. Funny ballets are great, like Coppelia or A Midsummer Night's Dream. If you're taking a guy to his first ballet, you can't go wrong with a manly one like Spartacus or Corsaire. Boys like sword fights, even if they're performed in tights. And if you're trying to get a girl in bed, those manly ballets are good, too. Pirates are always good, anything scantily clad. One of my favorites is Rodeo. Cowboys are yummy.

Are you reserved on club dance floors?
Not at all! I do know ballet girls that aren't into that scene at all, but the ones that do like clubbing pretty much go into every club thinking that they're going to be the hottest person in there. If you can have that attitude, you're bound to attract people.

Do Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty offer any valid lessons in the art of courtship?
Swan Lake should teach all men one thing: Don't make promises you can't keep! Girls should learn from this to stay away from princes. They may look nice in tights, but they are not known for their sincerity. Sleeping Beauty is a lousy portrayal of courtship.

What's the best dating advice you ever got from your mama?
Step 1: Arrive naked.
Step 2: Bring food.
It has never failed me.

Jose, 31

Do you have a special seduction dance?
Yes. Usually spins get a girl's attention. I tap her on the shoulder then do some pirouettes. That starts a conversation.

Sore muscles and bloody feet are a big part of being a dancer. Does this ever interfere with hanky panky?
When we are sore, women like it because they want to take care of us and massage our bodies, which leads to foreplay. So it works really well. I always say I'm sore.

Do you tolerate a date who has no rhythm?
By the time we're done having sex, she'll have rhythm. She'll say, "Oh my God, a guy has never lifted me like that," or "I never knew my hips could move so fast." A male dancer can control a woman's body from our experience partnering.

What advice would you give to a person who loves clubs but is embarrassed to dance? How can they warm up to booty shaking?
Get drunk. Or else take dance classes. It's really hard — even dancers are embarrassed to dance. I'm Puerto Rican, and I notice when you go to American clubs, you can't just pull any girl to booty shake because she might turn you down. In Latin America, it's not like that. You can grab any girl, and you will never be turned down because we're just enjoying each other for four minutes on the dance floor. Just remember it's for fun.

What is the definition of true love?
Insanity.

Do Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty offer any valid lessons in the art of courtship?
Swan Lake. . . I don't feel like I would commit suicide for somebody, no matter how much I love them. I love myself too much. Sleeping Beauty, yes, a man should do whatever it takes to get the girl, even if she disses you to the end.

What's the best dating advice you ever got from your papa?
My dad had fourteen sons, seven wives and died of a heart attack. He told me when I was thirteen that if you ever have a chance to be with a woman and you turn her down, you're turning yourself down, too. You should never disrespect a woman and turn her down.

Interviews by Ariana Green. Dating Advice From... appears on Fridays. Have questions for the general public? Send them to .

Dating Advice from Ballet Dancers