Lesbians in Ballet: âHas Anyone Like Me Ever Walked These Halls?â Balletâs strict gender norms put pressure on women to conform. But dancers who donât are finding theyâre not alone. Two Juliets: Audrey Malek, left, and Cortney Taylor Key, rehearsing a duet with the choreographer Adriana Pierce.Credit...Yael Malka for The New York Times June 1, 2021, 12:00 p.m. ET As a teenage ballet student in the 1990s, Katy Pyle had no interest in dating: not boys, not girls, not anyone. A serious love interest â all consuming, really â was already in the picture: ballet. âI didnât have space for any other relationships in my life,â Pyle, who uses the pronouns they and them, said in a phone interview from their home in Brooklyn. âItâs silly, but that was my true love.â