Boys in ballet - really fucking annoyed

[Boyscandoballettoo]

Please excuse the ranty tone of this thread - I have just had enough! Took my male toddler to a ballet class, and the number of negative comments or comments laughing about it from so-called family and friends has been overwhelming.

Please can people tell me AIBU to think it’s a bloody unisex sport?!? There have always been male ballet dancers! I do NOT understand the ignorance over it and even if it were a female sport traditionally, how dare people be so bloody sexist and make fun of a boy for joining in.

I don’t know why but it’s really pushing my buttons!

alsohuman why is competitive dance not a sport?

Ballet isn’t competitive.

But other forms of dance are and are most certainly considered sport

Of course ballet is competitive. Dance festivals are competitions.

But other forms of dance are and are most certainly considered sport

But I was talking about ballet, not other forms of dance. A ballet is a story told in dance, it’s an art form with no element of competition.

Ballet isn’t a sport in the same way as piano playing isn’t. Both require incredible skill and you can enter competitions but they are art forms.

Ballet dancers are exceptionally strong and fit and display amazing technique. I’d be proud as hell if my son was a ballet dancer!

If it’s going to be considered a sport someone had better notify the Arts Council so they can stop funding it.

Hmmn no, still not seeing ballet as a sport, despite top ballet dancers having to be very fit. It is dance. Isn't that enough? Football is football, why does it have to be a sport, isn't football enough? Marathon running is running, why does it have to be a sport, isn't running enough?

Dance, of any sort, can be competitive and also an art why can't it be dance, art and sport?

Ballet isn’t a sport in the same way as piano playing isn’t. Both require incredible skill and you can enter competitions but they are art forms. So can you, or someone, tell us what makes a sport a sport because apart from someone saying it is a sport if you can cheat all I can see is people saying it isn't because they don't think it is which isn't a great definition.

The dictionary definition of sport is

an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment

Looking at that I can't see how you can say competitive dance isn't a sport.
Plus art and sport aren't mutually exclusive

It isn't usually done on stage in a theatre to musical accompaniment, in costume & portraying a character, all the while making extreme physical strength and exertion look effortless. That's what makes ballet a performing art. Have you ever seen the women's floor exercises in the Olympics, see if you can find Simone Biles winning gold and tell us what is different other than the theatre bit. Some things can be an art form and a sport and it is actually quite rude to tell people doing that art/sport that you have decided what it can be considered. (not you personally but you as in people on here making the decision for other people.)

in fact I think ballet dancers are probably much fitterand stronger than footballers

Different skill sets. I'd like to see a ballet dancer play a full 90 mins of football.

Looking at that I can't see how you can say competitive dance isn't a sport

Ffs nobody’s said that. Ballet. Is. Not. Competitive.

But the conversation moved onto dance in general alsohuman

And yes... People have says that any form of dance is not considered a sport

You are not talking about ballet though cosmo!

No I'm talking about dance in general which is what the conversation moved onto days ago

And it’s moved back to ballet now.

I don't know you were in charge of the content of this thread alsohuman 🙄

I'm willing to bet half the people arguing that dance isn't a sport have never even set foot inside a dance studio.

My dd did all kinds of dance for years. Yes she came out of it with good posture and flexibility. I'd say she also got a bit fitter. Wouldn't have called it a sport, never occurred to me to do so.

Dd2 plays football and runs. She's far far fitter than dd1 ever was. She does two sports.

But trewser surely the level of fitness depends on the type of dance and the level someone performs at? We're not talking about individuals here....if an activity involves physical exertion, skill and competition it's a sport.

As I mentioned previously not referring to my particular form of dance as a sport has had a negative impact on some of my dancers. One school is happy to authorise absences for important sporting events but refused to do the same for my dancers as they were adamant dancing wasn't a sport. These kids were competing at world championship level which has taken years of training and attending classes 4/5 times a week...yet were essentially told they weren't as important as those that were involved in traditionally recognised sports. It's frustrating.

Well, she was dancing 4 times a week. Plenty of girls there not looking like athletes either tbf. Maybe if you are in an actual ballet production and dancing 6 times a week in a show, yes you'd need to be very fit.

I don't know you were in charge of the content of this thread alsohuman

Nor did I, it appeared to be you.

is trying to mimic the actions whilst shouting BAALLLLEEEETTTTT

Oh! that's wonderful - really great that he has something he loves that's his