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!

Well obviously your personal experience overrides other people's professional experience 🙄

Just like any sport there are those that take it to an elite level and those that don't. I have dancers who are never going to be elite dancers but they work hard, enjoy it and enjoy competing. Just because they don't look or perform like elite dancers doesn't make what they do any less of a sport. They turn up to competitions just like everyone else. Similarly to thosr who play football in local leagues - just because they won't make it as premier League players doesn't make what they do any less of a sport.

It's horrible and stupid of them and you must tell them if he even gets one hint of their attitude then they're out.

Male ballet is incredibly cool and beautiful and shh shouldn't a boy learn to move his body with control to music, and love it? Poor little sweetheart. Keep taking him and tell them they are wrong and to bugger off.

Not a sport as much as an athletic art imo.

Anyone who thinks ballet dancers aren't athletes needs to check out some pictures of Carlos Acosta (ideally barechested and in tights).

No-one ever got muscles like that without being superbly fit.

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. What do athletes look like? I mean darts is a sport, did she look less like an athelete than a darts player?

Disappointed and annoyed yes, shocked no. Ballet is not a sport.

Ds1 has no interest in football etc but at 13 is a competitive irish dancer. Loves it and keeps him extremely fit. He trains for two 2.5 hours a week and practices in between. Dance is a sport.

Trewser to be fair, you can hardly judge the fitness level of dancers in general by looking at a few girls in a recreational dance school any more than you could measure football fitness by picking a handful of random Sunday League players.
The majority of professional dancers, vocational students or even serious recreational dancers that I know would have no difficulty with the stamina required for 90 minutes of football. They wouldn't have the skills obviously, but aerobic fitness and agility wouldn't be an issue.
CosmoK I had the same issues with getting time off school for my DD for dance related issues and it is very unfair. I have had no issues getting time off for my elder son's music or my younger son's sports but I had to fight all the way for DD. When she left for full time ballet school was excluded from the list of leavers' destinations in the school Speech Day programme, even though pupils leaving for sports careers, Music Conservatoires and Art Colleges were included. So artistry is valued, athleticism is valued, but the discipline that most combines the two, isn't. Very odd. I don't think that calling dance a sport is the answer though. The underlying prejudices and misconceptions need to be challenged. I suspect the prevailing attitude that dancing is something that little girls do in twee outfits is a lot to do with things. But to reduce dance to athleticism denies its artistic heart. And in most genres ( I admit I know nothing about your style), artistry is what defines a great dancer. In fact there is increasing discomfort in some parts of the ballet world regarding the current vogue for ridiculously high extensions and oversplits etc as it is felt things are becoming too gymnastic, artistry is being lost and dancers are being damaged. I think things may change in the future. Well, I hope so.

I'm sure elite dancers are supremely fit, but at grassroots level, which is what the OP is talking about, i don't believe dancing would make you as fit as more traditional cardio based sports. More elegant yes!

, i don't believe dancing would make you as fit as more traditional cardio based sports.

I couldn't disagree more.

In my personal experience, comparing the kids I coach in a traditional cardio based sport to the ones at my DD's dance school, I would say that like for like the dancers are at least as fit. It depends how many hours they do and how much effort they put in during the sessions. Obviously if you are comparing someone who does a couple of hours dancing a week at fairly low intensity to someone who is training daily in the sport at high intensity, the sportsperson will be fitter. But the reverse is also true. My "hour a week" kids are no fitter than their equivalents at the dance school.

trewser of course certain types of dancing compare to traditional cardio based activity. I have run regularly to keep me fit enough to actively teach my dance classes. I am at my absolute fittest when dancing regularly.
You're coming at this from a very narrow viewpoint

MAFIL frustrating isn't it??

Interesting points about style. Irish dancing has very much moved away from the artistic style it was known for. It's all about power and athleticism....in competition there is little or no focus on artistry or interpretation. It's technical ability, stamina, power and strength. It's why Irish dancers are always criticised for looking miserable 🤣 we are too busy concentrating on the steps to smile!

Another interesting point on the male/female aspect. In any major competition the senior men's group is always the most popular. Those guys are phenomenal.

CosmoK I did Irish dancing as a kid, we never smiled as we were always worried about when we were going to get whacked across the back of our legs. I'm talking over 50 years ago and I hope you are a kinder teacher than some of the ones back then.

My teacher was the same! Yes I am.... although my kids might not agree 🤣🤣

Did someone really just compare ballet to piano playing?!

If they haven't got welts on the back of their legs they haven't got anything to complain about. I can still feel that sting now.

Dance is not a sport.

I would say dancers can be athletes though.

I'm not sure how many different ways I can say this trewser but Irish dancing is classed as a sport so you are incorrect. Dance can be a sport.

My regulatory body refers to it as a sport. It meets the dictionary definition of a sport. The people teaching and participating in it class it as a sport.

But you know better right?

I'm not talking particularly about Irish dancing. As I've said before I know nothing about it and have never seen it. If Irish dancing is a sport, and that makes you happy, then great!

i don't believe dancing would make you as fit as more traditional cardio based sports.

Obviously you've never tried dancing then.

Dancing is not only the most intense cardio workout you can get but incorporates full core engagement and centering at all times, it requires extreme stamina. The requirement is for precision, repetition, balance, flexibility and strength of every muscle in your body at once.....
....so no better than a normal cardio workout🙄.

Wow - Are people still banging on about is Ballet a sport? It's not. I have posted the list of UK sports already - Batllet isn't one of them.

The point about Arts council funding before was a good one. If Its a sport then that should stop immediately.

www.sportengland.org/media/10266/uk-recognised-ngbs-and-sport-list-april-2016.pdf

So when you said dance is not a sport what exactly did you mean then?
I can see how ballet isn't classed as sport because it lacks the competitive element but other forms of dance do, and are therefore classed as sports.
You can't make sweeping
generalisations and them object when people pick holes.

cantdoleft I'm not talking about ballet but dance in general. There are forms of dance that are classed as sport.

Cosmo!!!!

PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT BALLET

we are all delighted for you that fecking Irish dancing is a SPORT

Well, the thread is about Ballet.

Yes, some forms of dance are sports, they are on the list I linked to. Anything that isn't, isn't. It really is that simple