Sexist Football Fan Gets A Ballerina Slap-Down

Anyone who has ever strapped on a pointe shoe (or seen Flesh and Bone, for that matter) knows that ballerinas mean business. They are lean dancing machines capable of extreme gravity-defying feats — but they don't always get the credit they deserve. In fact, a Philadelphia Eagles fan recently likened his team's poor performance to players acting like "they were wearing tutus," as Good magazine reports. His point being: The footballers were playing like ballerinas, which he meant as a bad thing. When the Pennsylvania Ballet Company caught wind of the fan's offensive comments, they decided to go the classy route and point out exactly why his remark was off base. "With all due respect to the Eagles, let's take a minute to look at what our tutu wearing women have done this month," reads a lengthy message on the organization's Facebook page. "By tomorrow afternoon, the ballerinas that wear tutus at Pennsylvania Ballet will have performed The Nutcracker 27 times in 21 days. Some of those women have performed the Snow scene and the Waltz of the Flowers without an understudy or second cast. No 'second string' to come in and spell them when they needed a break. When they have been sick they have come to the theater, put on make up and costume, smiled and performed," the post, shared on December 30, points out. "When they have felt an injury in the middle of a show there have been no injury timeouts. They have kept smiling, finished their job, bowed, left the stage, and then dealt with what hurts. Some of these tutu wearers have been tossed into a new position with only a moments notice. That's like a cornerback being told at halftime that they're going to play wide receiver for the second half, but they need to make sure that no one can tell they've never played wide receiver before. They have done all of this with such artistry and grace that audience after audience has clapped and cheered (no Boo Birds at the Academy) and the Philadelphia Inquirer has said this production looks 'better than ever.'" "So no," the post summarized, "the Eagles have not played like they were wearing tutus. If they had, Chip Kelly would still be a head coach and we'd all be looking forward to the playoffs." Whoever that tutu-hater was: We're pretty sure he just got a grand jeté to the figurative face. Bravo, PBC, on all fronts!