Boys at Dance classes?
 

My boys brought home a flier in their school news letter the other day about dance classes. Not for one second did I think they'd be interested as they're previously played rugby league which is pretty much the complete opposite of dancing as a sport.

Anyway, so today is the day for their first dance class. Actually, it's just my older boy who wants to do dance. My younger is going to start gymnastics this year - as soon as I find a reasonable venue for it. Anyway, so these dance classes are mostly modern dance ei. hip hop etc. I think he's going to have a lot of fun (specially since most of the other people in the class are girls) and I'm really looking forward to it.

I was thinking this morning how in the last couple of years when they've been playing football, how much I've actually dreaded the training sessions and going to games. It's actually because I don't value the ethics of the coaches and other parents (there's another thread where I've spoken about that) but I had thought it was also that it took up so much time, which is a valuable commodity for us - as with most other families these days. I'm very pleased to know that it hasn't been selfishness on my part which has tainted my views of the boys' out of school activities. I can't wait to see how the new regimen works out. :)

Dancing is one of human beings's oldest pleasures and most sacred acts--it's universal.

Oddly* I'm watching "Shall We Dance" with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere right now; a movie along the same themes.

"There's NOTHING wrong with ballroom dance. Football sucks." is a direct quote from the movie aired not 5 minutes ago.

(Twilight Zone theme here)

(*that word seems to crop up a lot for me here. you people will start to think I'm . . . odd)

My son took ballet for a term. loved it, but it was a class that repeated each term (apparently they need that for reinforcement when they're 5 :rolleyes:), so he stopped because he was already way ahead of the rest of the class (all girls), and bored, and when he's bored we all cover and ruuuuuuuuun! :lol:

My friends' boys are taking hip hop at their public school. The parents were both heavily into drama/music as kids so they're pretty open minded... It doesn't reflect well on me, but I'm just not that comfortable watching little suburban Scottish-Americans celebrating African-American gang culture. [shrug]They're having fun, getting some exercise, and maybe de-clawing rap so what the heck.[/shrug]

Are they ginger?

No, they look like this kid.

edit: lost in translation ginger as in hair color not skin color. The boys are a couple shades toward red from the kid in the pic. I guess that's ginger.

...maybe hip hop isn't so bad in comparison?

Oh, great. Now they're gonna catch the ghey. :redface:

Hey, dancing imparts poise and balance which is valuable in any athletic endeavor. By taking dance, the lad may end up being the best at rugger or football that Australia's ever seen. Go you!

For the definitive film treatise on young males dancing, watch "Billy Elliott"...or anything with either Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire.

Hon, this is the Cellar, if there's one thing we do, it's odd:)

Griff, don't you use 'ginger' to describe hair colour then?

No. I was scratching my head trying to figure out what she meant, until I saw the video on the other thread.

Wow....so....does that mean red headed people also aren't discriminated against?

(note: that was humour, red haired people aren't really discriminated against.....though they are mercilessly teased as children)

"...beaten like a red headed stepchild..." Just a wee bit. We call em carrot tops or red heads.

"What's old and wrinkly and smells like ginger?"

Fred Astaire's face.

Maybe they've seen this:

I wouldn't call it gang culture, at least real hip hop. The new shit is actually directed to white suburban kids anyways.

Well, the boys had their first Hip Hop class on Thursday arvo. God it looked like so much fun, and I have to say, the guy running the class was hot Hot HOT!!!

Anyway, both of my boys had a great time and they've informed me most vociferously that they want to keep going for the rest of the term. It should be great fun for a number of reasons I predict. ;)

That's so cool. Great for kids to be into something that's so good for them! You must be delighted:) Hot dance teacher is an added bonus:)

my ballerino. Rather bizarrely, he didn't want to wear a leotard and skirt (we have black available as well as pink). I say bizarrely because this was the period in his life when he felt he could not go out and play on the swingset in the yard without his Burger King Crown, sequinned ice-dance dress and pink plastic "click clack" shoes. However, he was adamant that the Tonka t-shirt was his ballet outfit.

he's adorable, the purple socks are great.

I gave up on socks a long time ago. We just have "kid socks". All of them (9yoG, 7yoB, 5yoB) just grab the first pair they can find. There are fights over the pink and purple -go figure!

Oh, great. Now they're gonna catch the ghey. ;)

My kids all did Irish stepdancing, something my exwifew felt strongly about. The girls really looked beautiful in those embroidered dresses and I especially liked the hardshoe dancing.

Did anyone see Billy Elliot, that was a good movie about a boy who wants to dance.

Took four years of ballet. Not gay.
Tell you what, find a pro male ballet dancer and pick a fight with em'... let me know how it turns out when you get out of the hospital.
If I'm not mistaken much of US football and European football invests a great deal in rookies taking ballet so their people can learn how to control their center of gravity and a great deal more. The same is true for most professional martial artists.

Anyone who thinks that ballet is only for girls and homosexuals is very naive or closeminded.

I've never taken it but I'll admit that it would have helped me when I played football in high school.

My son was in dance class for a while... he needs to age a bit before he is ready for that much play-stand in line-play-stand in line.
He is more like a' playplayplayplayplaypass-out kinda' guy right now.
Too bad, he really loved it and was good at it too, soon.
Little boys have enough aggression as it is. They need a non-hitting, non-Us-&-Them outlet that only builds self esteem IMO.

Best to get it out of the way while they are still young enough to heal. Hardshoe is a body beater. :thepain:

It's safer for queers. Those bony ballerinas, in the throes of passion, could puncture your lung or put your eye out. :haha: