Men's ballet

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Men's ballet

The men's ballet in the original sense represents the dance of men in women's clothes, during the carnival season , for the amusement of the audience at ceremonial meetings . Today, however, men's ballets are increasingly developing in the direction of show dance, which are in no way inferior to the guard dances . There is also the German championship for men's ballets, which is organized by the Bundesverband Deutscher Männerballette e. V. is aligned. This event shows up to 60 ballets from all over Germany on two preliminary rounds . On the final day, another 20 ballets show their own shows. The reigning German master is the men's ballet of the MCE Finsterwalde in the U35 category, as well as the men's ballet "O-Town-Players" from Oppenheim in the U35 category.

history

The exact origin of the male ballet has not been proven. Neither the Central Archive of the German Fastnacht nor the German Fastnacht Museum nor other carnival archives have any documentation about it. An exact date of the origin is not possible either.

In the cities of the Middle Ages, the members of various professional groups used show dances as a representative custom during Shrovetide. This is probably where the roots of men's ballet also lie. The earliest evidence for these performed and rehearsed dances can be found in Nuremberg. There it was the butchers who are said to have received the privilege to perform the Zämertanz , presumably as thanks for their loyalty to the city prince in 1348/49. In the following years, this dance was performed for more than 200 years at Carnival, so it can be read in the Narren-Spiegel.

There are also reports about the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, where reference is made to male ballets.

In 1824, the laundresses in Bonn-Beuel on the right bank of the Rhine decided to seize power on the Thursday before Carnival, for which they formed a women's committee. While a large number of the men were out on ships to bring out the washed laundry, they took control of the hustle and bustle.

This custom established itself well beyond the borders of Beuel, where since 1957 not only the old Beuel women's committee from 1824 , but all committees from the districts have been involved in the annual storming of the town hall, which heralds the climax of the “fifth season”.

Since the men were not allowed to take part in the women’s events on that day , but were very interested in what they were “doing” there, the idea arose to sneak into the halls wearing women’s clothing. With an appearance for the amusement of the women one could find out what was happening that afternoon.

Housewives ballet

In the last few years women have also begun to take up the original form of male ballet.

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