Dear ballet goers,
I have a nephew who is a very good dancer for his age, which is one and a half. He catches on to movements fast and he has natural rythem and musicality. He is smart also. One day when I was doing my rond dejamb en lair while holding onto the back of a chair at the kitchen table my nephew was imitating me and very well, I might add too! Well, anyway, to make a long story short, I was getting him the Miss Christy's dance adventure for Christmas because I think that he would really enjoy the dancing on it and learn a lot more about dancing. I want to get him started in baby ballerina and me at the community center once he reaches two and a half. However, I have one problem, his parents. They don't want him to do ballet or any kind of dance because they feel that dance is for sissies and they don't want him growing up to be a fag or feminized in any way so to speak. How can I convince him that their son has a natural talent for dancing and that he would probably thrive on being in a dance class, particularly ballet? I want to but I am afraid that i won't have a good argument. So I have held off until I can get a good argument started. I would love feedback on this because I would love to know how to handle this. Thanks!

The short answer to this is that you will never have a good argument. How they raise their son and the things that they choose to teach him are completely up to them, not you. Continuing on a course of trying to change their minds will probably end with them not wanting to see you coming around anymore and not letting your nephew spend any time with you.

Yes, it's a shame that they have the attitudes that they have, but butting up against those attitudes is only going to cause resentment and hard feelings.

By the way, with him only being one and a half years old, there's plenty of time for things to change. It's not like he needs to be enrolled in classes next week. There's still a few years left for him to be able to explore the possibilities.

Dave
http://www.BallroomDangers.com

So they would rather him get sweaty with other boys than dance with girls...right- I hate it when parents are like that. If you're looking to put him in ballet- have they ever seen Baryshnikov dance? I don't know what's feminine about that. For jazz or modern- have they seen the Alvin Ailey company?? If you want to put him into ballroom- now there's a whole other set of arguements against them there. You just have to find the right route. He does have time, he's young, but just continue to talk to them about it and try to show them some real dancers. Is it possible you could start a ballet class for boys? Just keep exposing him to dance- its the best thing you can do.

You need a counterexample. Start showing up at family events with a ballet dancing boyfriend who is a regular enough guy to overcome the stereotypes.

that's a good idea- a lady at my studio (ballroom) is a ballet teacher and her daughter dances for the NYC ballet. The daughter's boyfriend is a soloist for the company.