The Internet has been ridiculing the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance for its big announcement that it had admitted a lumbering, 6-foot-3, 33-year-old man claiming to be a woman as its “first transgender dancer.”
Video of former IT technician Sophie Rebecca shows the applicant performing a lackluster ballet more fitting for a Monty Python sketch than a ballet stage, and people are blasting the academy’s “inclusive” award. In the video, Rebecca seems to be sleepwalking through the dance routine with dull twirls, lazy arm movements, and halfhearted leaps.
Twitter is ablaze with discussion over a male dancer who was admitted to the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance.
Sophia Rebecca, a former IT technician, was accepted into the Academy in 2017 as their first transgender dancer. pic.twitter.com/sfDPs9VheO
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) April 10, 2023
One Twitter user compared the clumsy performance by showing a video of a young girl whose moves seem crisp and precise by comparison:
FYI I started the music at the exact same time, his timing is just that off. pic.twitter.com/5NjRxcbYd8
— Lemón (@LunarLemonade) April 11, 2023
Redux later relayed a bit more information on this new dance applicant. It seems that Rebecca passed his Royal Academy of Dance Intermediate Foundation ballet exams with Merit in 2017 and has since performed professionally in the U.S. But it is unknown if he danced ballet.
Clarification: Sophie Rebecca passed his Royal Academy of Dance Intermediate Foundation ballet exams with a Merit in 2017, and has performed professionally in the USA since with female ballet dancers.
He began dancing at age 33. pic.twitter.com/6sMfkZwB5r
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) April 10, 2023
Whether Mr. Rebecca is or is not, many people on Twitter were outraged that this ox-like fellow was afforded a spot in the Royal Academy. They feel his inclusion is just more woke nonsense that makes a mockery of women.
As the father of two dancers who danced all sorts of styles, including ballet, since the age of four, I assure you that Sophie Rebecca passed nothing and was awarded this post due to “diversity and inclusion” — which is usually a huge open door for trans. Started at 33. Come on.
— Kenneth 老百姓 Rapoza (@BRICbreaker) April 11, 2023
Men doing this will discourage young women as you said potentially to the point of ruining their sport and making them want to quit which is messed up on so many levels!
— Dr. Values & Principles PhD-V.P. 🇺🇸 (@ValuePrinciple) April 11, 2023
I’ll guarantee that he’s not been admitted to the Royal Academy of Dance. He is not a dancer. I simply can’t believe that professional dancers would appear on the same stage without being forced to for fear of being dismissed for being anti-trans by their employers. It’s a joke.
— Anne Self (@AnneSelf2) April 11, 2023
If any woman showed up and danced like this to audition for the spot he has she’d be laughed out of the room.
Once again a man erases a woman.
— Katie (@thebereanmillen) April 10, 2023
Sophie looks like a Clydesdale clomping across the floor.
— FeralFemale (@FeralFemale) April 11, 2023
I’m going to guess that they passed him because they didn’t want to be accused of discriminating against a larping man.
— Annie Kenneysaurus (@lennysperson) April 11, 2023
Clearly not professional though, amateur at best!
An insult to any male or female that has worked tirelessly to get to a professional standard. We’ve coddled these men out of fear & as a consequence letting down real talent. Time to say no these people & bring standards back.— melanie (@missyascott1974) April 11, 2023
It seems likely that there is more to this story, and we don’t quite have all the details about what Mr. Rebecca will be doing at the prestigious dance academy. Still, few on the Internet are buying it, regardless.
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