Reflections about Male Beauty

[Steve5380]

Amidst the ugliness of Covid-19, isn't it a good change to think of beauty?

 

As a gay person one can be perplexed over how subjective male beauty is. One can be attracted to masculinity in so many different ways.

 

In these days of idleness I think I have found my ideal of male beauty by reading about and watching Rudolf Nureyev. He is considered by a majority as the best male ballet dancer in our lifetime. Not only do I feel this way, but I also see him as the most attractive male figure. Elegant and sensible, without being effeminate. And he was One of Us, although possibly bisexual. 

 

His persona is not only to admire, but also to imitate in some ways. We cannot dance like he did, but we can cultivate the slim but strong figure, with excellent posture, moving with elegance, walking with firm but soft steps and an expression of confidence.

 

It is a pity that AIDS took him away at the young age of 54.  It would have been interesting to see how he would be today at 81. He might have confirmed my belief that an old body can still be graceful and attractive.  

 

He is definitely a Gay role model. Just some look around and we find plenty of them as stars in the arts and sports and science and even politics. There is nothing that supports that we gays are inferior in any way, something that young gays should realize soon.

 

Here are some videos of Nureyev that show how impressive he was. And we don't give up any masculinity if we watch  ballet  

 

 

 

 

[wilfgene]

Masculinity?

One of, if not the greatest patron of the art form WAS not known as the Sun Queen.

Intrigued how their toes looked like.

Not that I am into that.

 

On a even longer stretch and connection,

3000 years ago the same character was used for both "Spiritual Medium" and "Dance".

As you may have found, a huge proportion of the Former are androgynous.

How about take care of own physical health first, 

and remind oneself not to allow, let alone promote the skin, flesh and bones of anyBODY's feet be suffocated until they rot alive.   

[Steve5380]

13 hours ago, wilfgene said:

Masculinity?

One of, if not the greatest patron of the art form WAS not known as the Sun Queen.

Intrigued how their toes looked like.

Not that I am into that.

 

On a even longer stretch and connection,

3000 years ago the same character was used for both "Spiritual Medium" and "Dance".

As you may have found, a huge proportion of the Former are androgynous.

How about take care of own physical health first, 

and remind oneself not to allow, let alone promote the skin, flesh and bones of anyBODY's feet be suffocated until they rot alive.   

 

I don't understand your post.

 

Who looks at men's toes for beauty?

Nureyev was definitely not androgynous.  

Not with that bulge, and with total lack of men's boobs   

[Guest Hehe]

During the self lock down period. I began to spend more time looking at myself in the mirror like never before. Then I began to notice something I have never put a thought before, being that I was tied down by previous work and past chaos. Now that I have so much time on hand to admire.  I realised I am actually quite good looking.  I know it is going to cause much jealousy and rude comments here. Regardless what other think, it is not going to change how I look - captivating. 

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, Guest Hehe said:

During the self lock down period. I began to spend more time looking at myself in the mirror like never before. Then I began to notice something I have never put a thought before, being that I was tied down by previous work and past chaos. Now that I have so much time on hand to admire.  I realised I am actually quite good looking.  I know it is going to cause much jealousy and rude comments here. Regardless what other think, it is not going to change how I look - captivating. 

 

That's great.  But why should this cause jealousy and rude comments?  We probably are all better looking than we think.

If you want more confirmations of your discovery,  you can post your picture here,  and if you get many jealous posts, then you indeed look great.

Looking back at earlier pictures of myself, I realize that I too looked better than I thought I did at the time.

.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

In these days of voluntary confinement for social isolation, it is good to have some motivation to exercise and do stretching.  Here is another video of this amazing ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev:

 

 

Another ballet dancer, ranked by many as the best in the world, is Mikhail Baryshnikov.   It's such a joy to see him dance!

 

 

 

IF these two guys were able to reach such virtuosity,

 

what keeps us normal people from seeking a one-thousanth  of their abilities and try to reach and preserve a nice body?  Not do dance but to attract some smiles?

[doncoin]

You are forgetting the current bad boy of ballet- Sergei Polunin. 

 

 

[Steve5380]

On 4/14/2020 at 9:59 AM, doncoin said:

You are forgetting the current bad boy of ballet- Sergei Polunin. 

 

 

 

Thank you, I'm impressed.  I didn't forget Polunin, I had not seen him before.

Now after two I have three bodies to admire. 

You know what seeing these men brings to mind in a guy in his 70s? 

"There is no reason I cannot get on my knees to pick up some food from the bottom shelf" 

[doncoin]

Then there is Roberto Bolle with La Scala, Carlos Acosta with Royal Ballet, Angel Corella (formerly ABT)... and the list goes on. 

 

[Steve5380]

Today I found back a video I was looking for.  This is about a Principal Dancer of the Houston Ballet a decade ago.

 

This is Junshuang Huang, a native from Shanghai, who came to Houston in 2009 after dancing with the Guangzhou Ballet. 

He also has a physique that I admire.  He is 1.91 m tall, amazing for an Asian.  He created a ballet school here in Houston.

The enthusiasm he raised here should be a sign that Asians are also welcomed in Ang Moh country  

When I watch him my thoughts are not to go to bed with him but I get a motivation  to keep working to maintain my body

to one hundredth the quality of his. After all, we are of the same species.  Nature should allow this.

 

 

  

[InBangkok]

In any discussion about the best male ballet dancers, let's not forget Mikhail Baryshnikov who was 10 years younger than Nureyev. Like Nureyev he was a principal dancer with the great Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky). Also like Nureyev he defected, Nureyev aged 23 and Baryshnikov aged 26. Both were massive stars in Russia and elsewhere. Many feel Baryshnikov was as great a dancer, but he did not have the desire to be a world personality like Nureyev. His main motivation in defecting was to learn more about modern dance techniques and especially to work with the choreographer George Balanchine which he did for a year at the New York City Ballet.

 

This video gives an idea of his leaps and charisma. Unfortunately the sound is awful and recorded at far too high a level.

 

 

Nureyev on the other hand wanted to dominate the world, his face on the front page of every newspaper. He had a huge ego and a huge sexual appetite. If he was bisexual, then it was men who took up well over 95% of his liaisons. Depite all his many promiscuous affairs, the great love of his life was the Danish classical dancer Eric Bruhn with whom he lived for 18 years. After he fell in love with a younger man, he and Bruhn remained close for the remaining 7 years of Bruhn's life. Like Nureyev, he is believed to have died of AIDS.

 

When he defected in 1961, Nureyev was the equivalent of a rock star. He was also a supreme narcissist. He HAD to be the centre of attention and was therefore not an easy man to like. He had a large coterie of ladies who followed him around the world. Mostly in their 50s and 60s, the criteria for  belonging to this group was twofold: they had to adore him and they had to pay for everything! 

 

Even during his relationships, Nureyev became a regular at the baths in London and the much more action packed bath houses in the USA. In 'Rudolf Nureyev: The Life' by Julie Kavanagh, she recounts the tale of his hosting an elegant dinner party at his London home with the guests including the ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn and the London concert agent Sandor Gorlinsky (who managed the diva Maria Callas) and his wife.

 

"Rudolf's housekeeper came into the dining room to report that two youths were waiting for him at the front door, 'Nice looking. They say they have an appointment with Mister Rudolf.' Jumping up to investigate,  Rudolf was heard a few minutes later going upstairs with the new arrivals, leaving his guests around the table to continue their meal. Suddenly one of the ladies burst out laughing. 'That's just the way he is." she said. 'He tosses them like pancakes!' When the front door had slammed shut, Rudolf returned to the table still aglow from his pleasurable amuse-bouche. 'And was it nice?' Margot asked sweetly!

 

I was fortunate to see both in performance. First Nureyev partnering Margot Fonteyn in 'Giselle' in Vienna. Strangely I do not remember any of the dancing now. What sticks in my mind is Nureyev's entrance at the start of Act 2. He appeared at the back of the stage wearing a long cloak and holding flowers to place on the dead Giselle's grave. He walked slowly across the back of the stage, down one side and then along the front. Just that walk alone was mesmerising. Baryshnikov I saw 10 years later in Stravinsky's ballet 'Apollo Musagette' in New York. Here it was his pure dancing and amazing command of the stage that captivated me.

 

Back in 2007 PBS in the USA presented a documentary of Nureyev and his Russian Years showing his artistry before his defection. This is the trailer.

 

 

[Steve5380]

On 6/12/2020 at 5:48 AM, InBangkok said:

In any discussion about the best male ballet dancers, let's not forget Mikhail Baryshnikov who was 10 years younger than Nureyev. Like Nureyev he was a principal dancer with the great Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky). Also like Nureyev he defected, Nureyev aged 23 and Baryshnikov aged 26. Both were massive stars in Russia and elsewhere. Many feel Baryshnikov was as great a dancer, but he did not have the desire to be a world personality like Nureyev. His main motivation in defecting was to learn more about modern dance techniques and especially to work with the choreographer George Balanchine which he did for a year at the New York City Ballet.

 

 

Baryshnikov is now 72 y.o.   He still looks in perfect shape.  He and Nureyev can be seen as role models of what a male body can achieve. 

It is remarkable how small Baryshnikov is,  only 1.65 m tall.  This does not detract from his appearance. 

 

Here is a video of him today giving a commencement speech.  I am several years older than him,  but with much less wrinkles and a more straight posture,  but not so much hair as he has,  ha ha     I wish I had his flexibility for my practice of Aikido...

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

Here is another video about Mikhail Baryshnikov. 

 

Translated: "Tribute to Mikahil Baryshnikov, the best dancer in the world"

 

 

[Steve5380]

Here is Baryshnikov a 21.  Pure perfection!

 

 

[Guest Masc btm]

What's male beauty for and its ultimate expression?

 

Like all things in nature, it's to attract the opposite sexes to each other and mate. 

I know when someone is attracted to me and he wanted to mate with me, that's beauty. There's that look that light up in his eyes that's unmistakable.

Of course there are those cmi who want to mate with everybody but they get rejected.  

[Steve5380]

43 minutes ago, Guest Masc btm said:

What's male beauty for and its ultimate expression?

 

Like all things in nature, it's to attract the opposite sexes to each other and mate. 

I know when someone is attracted to me and he wanted to mate with me, that's beauty. There's that look that light up in his eyes that's unmistakable.

Of course there are those cmi who want to mate with everybody but they get rejected.  

 

You mentioned one effect of male beauty:  to mate.  And it happens that ugly males also mate!

 

Male beauty is also in its aesthetics.  There is much beauty in inanimate objects, and they don't mate.  Examples, a beautiful car, a beautiful landscape.

Many people are fans of ballet not because they dream of having sex with the dancers but because they like the beauty of their movements and their figure.

This must also be the case with Baryshnikov and Nureyev.  There is much male beauty among the participants of a Mr. Universe and other Mr-s.  But the beauty of the contestants is not necessarily ability, functionality. We admire the ballet dancers for being able to do what normal people cannot.  They have a "dynamic beauty".

 

[InBangkok]

Then, surely, there is inner beauty - personality, caring, loving. So many young guys seem to think that ageing is only about looks. It's not! If you imagine that you will still be single in your 60s and 70s and expect to spend much of your time in saunas and cruising, then of course the only card in your hand is your looks. To your friends and partners, looks are just a smallish part of the whole you.

[Guest Old Timer]

1 hour ago, Steve5380 said:

 

You mentioned one effect of male beauty:  to mate.  And it happens that ugly males also mate!

 

Male beauty is also in its aesthetics.  There is much beauty in inanimate objects, and they don't mate.  Examples, a beautiful car, a beautiful landscape.

Many people are fans of ballet not because they dream of having sex with the dancers but because they like the beauty of their movements and their figure.

This must also be the case with Baryshnikov and Nureyev.  There is much male beauty among the participants of a Mr. Universe and other Mr-s.  But the beauty of the contestants is not necessarily ability, functionality. We admire the ballet dancers for being able to do what normal people cannot.  They have a "dynamic beauty".

 

You must be the cmi to not understand him.

 

Those beauty that you mentioned are just beauty, the MALE beauty part has sex already considered a necessary condition or else why not just man beauty or human beauty or just beauty. You won't want to have sex with a flower or even a beautiful woman, but see male beauty as a gay, you'll want to mate with him. The male part is very important for the mating function here as a sex adjective.

[Steve5380]

12 hours ago, Guest Old Timer said:

You must be the cmi to not understand him.

 

Those beauty that you mentioned are just beauty, the MALE beauty part has sex already considered a necessary condition or else why not just man beauty or human beauty or just beauty. You won't want to have sex with a flower or even a beautiful woman, but see male beauty as a gay, you'll want to mate with him. The male part is very important for the mating function here as a sex adjective.

 

What is "cmi"?  If it is "Caucasian Most Intelligent"  then... I am "cmi"

 

MALE has to do with GENDER, the same as FEMALE.  In ballet, males dance in different ways than females.  And it has noting to do with the difference between a cock and a pussy.

 

MALE has to do with strength, ability, functionality, firm character, dominance.

FEMALE has to do with delicacy, vulnerability, sweet lovely character.

 

If your whole world turns around sex,  then yes,  "male beauty" has to do with cocks.  

But cocks are not precisely beautiful,  and males with big cocks can be quite ugly too!  

[Guest A Real Man]

I am not a fan of ballet. They look too butterflyingly for my taste.   Ballet, in my view unlike  swimming and Taekwando ,cannnot fully bring out the potential of man. Man are supposed to be energetically heavy with powerful beat that shake the stage with roaring feet and the sound of drumming chest.  So ya, I love man with sword, not with sewing kit.  

[Steve5380]

2 hours ago, Guest A Real Man said:

I am not a fan of ballet. They look too butterflyingly for my taste.   Ballet, in my view unlike  swimming and Taekwando ,cannnot fully bring out the potential of man. Man are supposed to be energetically heavy with powerful beat that shake the stage with roaring feet and the sound of drumming chest.  So ya, I love man with sword, not with sewing kit.  

 

"butterflyingly"....  you should use the nice term @upshot likes so much:  "little snowflake".

You have a strange idea of what is "the potential of man".  With your criterion,  Albert Einstein had zero potential  

 

Here you have your REAL MEN, something energetically heavy with powerful beat that shake the stage with roaring feet and the sound of drumming chest:

 

 

 

 

OHHH.... THEY ARE  REAL WOMEN!

.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

Ivan Vasiliev!  a super principal dancer that broke my idea that top dancers are slim.  

 

Here is a video of him,  and we can see that he is a hunk. But he moves his muscles very well!

(he should be praised, since in the video he does all the work, while the other dancers just sit around )

He must be 26 y.o. in the video, and now he is 31.  

But it seems that when he will come closer to 50, he won't be an uncle with a big tummy, feeble legs, and a body that goes downhill. 

 

I still prefer the slim ones,  but in the ballet menu there is now one for each taste  

 

 

 

[Steve5380]

This topic of male beauty is full of male ballet dancers.  So there may be something relating ballet with beauty...

 

I always wondered what a life as ballet dancer might be.  Surely quite the opposite to my life in the oil industry, ha ha.

I found some videos by a dancer who likes to share this knowledge, and I think that he is sincere. 

 

The first has a lot of interesting information, and his demeanor reveals that he is not a super macho:

 

 

 

In this one he continues by answering some questions he gets asked often...

 

 

 

And, if you are serious about wanting to be a ballet dancer,  he relates how a day of his life goes by.

 

 

[Steve5380]

Anything new in the area of male beauty?   Surely not, our species does not change.  But there are new videos of beautiful males in athletic performance shows.  

 

They are not hunks,  they are not twinks,  they are perfect models inbetween:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not any Asian gay can have bodies like these.  But they don't need to be so much different either.  Not as long as these are taken as role models.

[Guest Asian Godiva]

10 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

Not any Asian gay can have bodies like these. 

You ain't seen anything yet.  My heavenly body will put many of you to shame.

[Steve5380]

On 4/12/2021 at 10:08 PM, Guest Asian Godiva said:

You ain't seen anything yet.  My heavenly body will put many of you to shame.

 

If there were any minuscule inkling of truth in what you said,  we would have heard from you already.

 

Anyone can write about himself exactly what you wrote.  And, if there is any truth to this,  good for your!   

[tomcat]

I identified this a few years ago, but the trend of baby face and beast body is getting stronger and stronger.

the only reason for this is that it is very hard to achieve, hence it has become highly covetable

 

especially in the ocean of good looking people on instagram, tiktok etc

[Guest Fatty]

On 4/1/2020 at 11:56 PM, Guest Hehe said:

During the self lock down period. I began to spend more time looking at myself in the mirror like never before. Then I began to notice something I have never put a thought before, being that I was tied down by previous work and past chaos. Now that I have so much time on hand to admire.  I realised I am actually quite good looking.  I know it is going to cause much jealousy and rude comments here. Regardless what other think, it is not going to change how I look - captivating. 

Sic your picture please 

[Guest Sergei Popov]

a contemporary of Rudolf Nureyev , from Slovak eastern bloc.

 

Opera singer , Lucia Popp. wonderful voice but died in 1993.

 

 

 

 

[Steve5380]

On 11/15/2021 at 12:32 AM, tomcat said:

I identified this a few years ago, but the trend of baby face and beast body is getting stronger and stronger.

the only reason for this is that it is very hard to achieve, hence it has become highly covetable

 

especially in the ocean of good looking people on instagram, tiktok etc

 

Interesting, but I fail to see the attraction of a baby face in an adult body.

 

Wouldn't this make one feel like being a pedophile?

 

[tomcat]

On 11/15/2021 at 10:50 PM, Steve5380 said:

Wouldn't this make one feel like being a pedophile?

 

i am partial to classic male beauty myself, young Marlon Brando, young Elvis and Rock Hudson at his prime. but beauty is beauty regardless. 

 

I am able to modulate my perception of beauty so that my definition of it is not so narrow. 

 

so no, appreciating the juxtaposition of neotenous features against a developed male physique does not make one a pedophile...

 

 

[Steve5380]

Male beauty is subjective,  but male fitness is definitely shown in this video.  Too bad he had to corrupt his skin with so many tattoos...

 

 

[Steve5380]

Reading about Ukraine, something was mentioned related to the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.  This reminded me of this great Role Model and the enjoyment to see him dance.  So I found another video of him I like,  and this is it:

 

 

[InBangkok]

I saw Baryshnikov dance in New York. He was utterly stunning. And he looked much more of a male role model than Nureyev whom I saw in Giselle in Vienna. Nureyev's leg muscles were just too pronounced. Clearly he needed them for his amazing leaps but Baryshnikov was in my view better proportioned.

[Steve5380]

I recently bought the DVD of the  movie "The Turning Point" which includes stunning performances of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Leslie Browne beyond what the YouTube clips show.  He is beyond doubt among the best dancers of all times.  And I can watch him and be stunned at any time I wish.

 

And he still has a successful life now at 74.   Although I find surprising how much his face has aged.   His picture is on my post of June 17, 2020,  and he was 72 yo at that time.   My body is nothing compared to his,  but I don't think my face will look so old before I am 92,  ha ha.