Nike sponsored trans ballerina Sophie Rebecca before enlisting TikToker Dylan Mulvaney as spokesperson

The first trans-identified male to pass a Royal Academy of Dance exam has become the centre of a social media storm after photographs and video began circulating showing a large male with no obvious talent or grace in various ballet performances.

Sponsored by Nike Sophie Rebecca, of North Yorkshire, was the first trans-identified male to be accepted at the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in 2016 after the internationally respected institution decided to allow males to join female courses as a way to be inclusive of transgender people.

Trans TikToker Dylan Mulvaney also has been boosted by Nike, who tapped Mulvaney as a spokesperson. Mulvaney wears a sports bra and women's leggings in a recent promo while bouncing around doing aerobics moves and flinging his pony tail about. Nike blamed customers for not being inclusive after backlash.

Sophie is an IT consultant and former rally driver who began dancing at age 33. Sophie was one of the first transgender students to take an RAD exam, just barely scraping a merit. Most ballet dancers stop dancing once they hit this age-range, but for Sophie, the time is ripe to begin the career.

“When I was really young, I remember watching some professional dancers on Blue Peter and, like many youngsters, I fell in love with the movement, the pointe work and the costumes! I never had the opportunity to dance when I was young and didn’t start until I was 33,” Sophie explains on the RAD website.

“When I found my RAD Registered Teacher, who taught me the correct female variations, this kicked off my journey. I passed my RAD Intermediate Foundation ballet exam with a Merit and this year I performed in the USA for the first time,” continued Sophie.

One such performance took place in Missoula Montana at Ballet Beyond Borders in January 2020.

A video of the event shows four women enter and take their positions while the audience remains silent. Then when Sophie appears on the stage, the audience erupts in rapturous applause. However, Sophie clearly has the least amount of talent of anyone on stage.

What follows feels like a comedy sketch, with the joke being on women. Sophie demonstrates not one ounce of grace, poise, coordination or ability to perform even the simplest moves.

The choreographers made a valiant attempt to disguise the star of the show’s complete absence of talent by having Sophie remain largely stationary while the graceful, elegant female dancers gave beautifully impressive performances around the out-of-place male.

Sophie appeared to be wearing pointe shoes, but did not dance on pointe. There can be no doubt that somewhere there was a very gifted woman left waiting in the wings in order for this embarrassing spectacle to come into existence.

Sophie was one of four dancers featured by Teen Vogue in 2021 in a segment showcasing four extraordinary dancers who are “changing the game.” An Instagram post shows that the event was sponsored by Nike, the sportswear brand that recently enlisted trans-identified male TikTok celebrity Dylan Mulvaney to help sell their sports bras.

In an interview with The Times in 2016, Sophie said the physical changes brought on by hormone therapy made training to be a ballerina particularly challenging.

“Without testosterone in my system I will have to work twice as hard because I will lose strength way before I lose the weight,” said Sophie, who also complaining of developing “bingo wings.”

“I’ve also developed bingo wings, which isn’t exactly great. There was a day when I was dancing and threw my arms out and there was this wobble, and I thought, ‘Oh, no’.”

Sophie’s dance instructor, Lynne Reucroft-Croome, describes being initially surprised when Sophie turned up to her female group classes, but was apparently “delighted” that the academy was so accepting.

“I thought it was unusual because it was a situation that I’d never come across before, but what is strange? I’m not judgmental about anybody,” Reucroft-Croome told The Times, adding that she could not easily see a day when transgender dancers would perform professionally.

“Ballet dancers are a bit like racehorses. They have a specific size, shape, height of legs, flexibility. At the end of the day, it’s about people being themselves.”

The Times reported that the RAD had also accepted a trans-identified female, Joe Sandbrook, 14, into the male program.

“Dancing has given my soul wings,” Sophie told The Times. “It’s the one time that I can show my inner feelings on the outside.”

Sophie’s performances are reminiscent of trans-identified male Minna-Maaria Antikainen, who gave a performance at the European Figure Skating Championships in Espoo, Finland in January. Antikainen showed a similar lack of grace and talent while giving a solo performance surrounded by female skaters.