It’s a tired stereotype that all male ballet dancers are gay. (Heck, it’s even the plot of the 2000 coming-of-age dramedy Billy Elliot). But James B. Whiteside is using his platform to show the true complexity, challenges and satisfaction he has experienced professional ballet dancer. He currently works as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre.
“The art form is so delicate and beautiful, and people are afraid of it,” the 37-year-old dancer said. “I don’t think people understand the rigor involved in classical ballet. Our job is to make it look effortless, but the reality is, it’s damn hard.”
He started practicing dance at age 9 and became a professional at age 17. He now rehearses about 7 hours a day, getting only 5-minute breaks at the top of ever hour (and no lunch break). He has always been out as a performer, but that doesn’t mean his career hasn’t had its challenges.
His 2021 memoir — Center Center: A Funny, Sexy, Sad Almost-Memoir of a Boy in Ballet — offers an unflinchingly honest yet fantastical look into his experiences with dance, drag, sex, partying and pain. He also released about 28 podcasts of The Stage Rightside, a comedic yet informative podcast with various stage-dance professionals “brought to you live from James’ dressing room, backstage at the Metropolitan Theatre.”
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Whiteside has used his alter-ego, JB Dubbs, to combine hard-hitting hip-hop and ballet with flamboyant flair that he can’t always share on the professional stage. One of Dubb’s music videos, “WTF”, is a response in favor of the #MeToo movement’s shakeup of sexual harassment in the dance world.
Whiteside was in a 12-year relationship with Dan Donigan, a performer better known as Drag Race alumn Milk. Together, they performed alongside three others — Skim, Jugs, and Linda Lakes — as Milk and the Dairy Queens. Whiteside’s persona in the group was YooHoo, named after a brand of chocolate milk.
He and Donigan have since amicably parted, though Whiteside has also occasionally performed in drag around New York City as Ühu Betch.
“Classical ballet can be really rigid,” he said in an August 2021 interview with Bustle. “In order to accept queerness into ballet, there have to be queer stories being told. I dance for a very classical ballet company, and our bread and butter are the classics.”
He told NBC News that, outside of all the heteronormative princes he has played, he has been able to give an effeminate interpretation to his villainous roles, like the wicked sorcerer von Rothbart in “Swan Lake” and the villain Iago in “Othello.” But he knows this can play into the harmful gay-villain trope.
“My greatest wish for ballet is to start telling more inclusive stories,” he said. “I’m a cis-gay man, and I want to play a cis-gay man in a role at some point before I retire.”
Whiteside once performed live for Madonna at her birthday party and he is also a model represented by Wilhelmina Models.
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TomH
Great profile, Queerty — thanks! James is such an interesting and talented guy. (OK and he’s hot too..) I’d love to see far more of these profiles highlighting the diversity and awesomeness of the queer community.
Skip
Anyone know the music the pianist was playing during James’s intro?
greekboy
I appreciate the athleticism and the remarkable dedication it takes to be a world class ballet dancer. I hope this dude makes 10 million dollars before his career is cut short by injury or age
Herman75
i do too. The strength and balance is remarkable.
white-queer-african
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
Terrycloth
I can appreciate the discipline and his dedication to his art..I can enjoy classical pieces of music..could never get into ballet or Opera..I went to a theater to see it live. Still didn’t get it or enjoyed it…I won’t put anyone else down for loving it…
Herman75
I went to see American Ballet Theater’s Nutcracker. So good!
ryepie2222
Ugh he’s exhausting
Tombear
Not to mention dancers are incredible lovers. They can do sex positions you have never dreamed of! Dance is a wonderful art .
Peter
Beautiful man, beautiful dancer.
robertkalin
Fantastic story. The dancing is unbelievably brilliant.
Rocinante
I love the comments; most; about this story. I love to watch Ballet and his comment at the beginning of the article about the fear of ballet because “it’s gay”. It’s not but I certainly bought into that as a kid. My gymnastics coach wanted me to take ballet to improve my floor routine; I was a gay kid at 13 in the early 80s who was so scared I didn’t do it. I regret it now.
Beautiful dancer.
storm45701
Best lover I ever had did ballet. The pure physicality and flexibility was a sight to behold.
verstopcub
“It’s a tired stereotype that all male ballet dancers are gay.” Then, the article proceeds to extensively showcase one such gay ballet dancer. The lead-off sentence to the entire article about the complexity of ballet is almost immediately overshadowed by what the purpose of the article is all about… Whiteside being gay has nothing to do with what the article is trying to get across, but Villarreal feels the need to point it out, for some reason… And I agree with others; Whiteside’s exhausting. And based on the knowledge he dated Milk for 12 years, another very popular, egotistical, self-absorbed gay man, I can see why…
As for the art of ballet, it’s not my cup of tea. That being said, I can definitely appreciate the art. It’s crazy what these dancers do, and go through, for their craft. The training, their body (especially their toes), and their dedication. It’s truly astonishing and amazing.
johncp56
So so very beautiful
grahambower
How can something be too froo-froo?
TheMarschallin
He’s cute and all that, but drawing a mustache on a photo of George Balanchine is pretty juvenile.
Phuryous4
I worked for a ballet company for a few years. Went there with preconceived stereotypes about men in ballet. In actuality, there were only 2.5 gay men in the corps. The soloist and principle male dancers treated the corps like a harem and went through girls at a startling pace until they settled down and married one of them.