The research of Dr. Doug Risner, a distinguished dance professor in the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, was recently featured in a segment on NBC Nightly News for the award-winning documentary film, DANSEUR. Risner serves as research advisor and consultant for the documentary, which is receiving increasing national coverage.

Scott Gormley, the film's director and producer, based the idea for making the documentary after reading Risner's book, Stigma and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance and his additional research publications on the bullying, harassment and abuse that boys and young adult males in dance encounter. Since then, Gormley asked Risner to join the team as research advisor and consultant, and together they have used his research throughout the film to support the boys' stories revealed in the film. DANSEUR won the prestigious Lincoln Center Film Society Award for a work-in-progress in 2017.

"That an award-winning documentary has been made, based on more than two decades of my research, is a career achievement I never would have imagined," said Risner.

In addition to the NBC Nightly News segment about DANSEUR, below are additional stories noting Risner's research:

• Advocate: All Male Ballet Dancers Are Gay, Right?
• CW39 Houston: Tights & Taunting! 'Danseur' documentary unveils brutal bullying of boy dancers
• Houston Chronicle: 'Danseur' examines stereotypes of male ballet dancers
• HuffPost: Tights, Tutus and 'Relentless' Teasing: Inside Ballet's Bullying Epidemic
• HuffPost: The Greatest Obstacle For Boys Who Do Ballet Is Often Their Own Fathers

To learn more about Dr. Risner and his research, visit theatreanddance.wayne.edu/profile/ar2852.