Gender defying Leroy Mokgatle and Long Zhou nominated for German Theatre Award

Two gender defying dancers, Leroy Mokgatle and Long Zhou, have been nominated for the 2025 Deutschen Theaterpreis DER FAUST (German Theatre Award DER FAUST) in the category of the Best Performance in Dance.

Deutsche Bühnenverein (The German Stage Association) does not mention their gender orientations in the jury statement but their artistry only, which is nice.

Leroy, a Demi-soloist of the Staatsballett Berlin (Berlin State Ballet), has been shortlisted for their portrayal of Puck in Edward Clug's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The South African dancer was a prize winner of the Prix de Lausanne in 2016. After dancing with Béjart Ballet Lausanne and Ballett Zürich, she joined Staatsballett Berlin in 2023.

Long, a Dancer with the Ballett am Rhein, has been shortlisted for his performance in Invocation by choreographer Mthuthuzeli November. The Chinese dancer danced with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo as Nina Enimenimynimova in 2009-2011 and 2016-2019 and with Richard Siegal / Ballet of Difference in 2019-2023. He joined Ballett am Rhein in the 2023-2024 season.

TanzHarz of Harztheater has also been nominated for the same category for Da Vincis Magie by choreographer Tarek Assam. It is commended for translating Leonard Da Vinci's creativity into dance with quality, passion and precision with a small ensemble of 11 dancers.

For the full list of nominees in the all categories, visit the Deutsche Bühnenverein's and Deutschen Theaterpreis DER FAUST's websites. The award ceremony will take place on 15 November 2025 in Stuttgart.

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Updated on 16th August 2025 to correct the spelling of TanzHarz.