{"id":1547,"date":"2015-05-06T02:53:09","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T02:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/?p=1547"},"modified":"2025-04-08T15:36:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T15:36:32","slug":"8-ways-to-make-ballet-fun-for-boys-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/2015\/05\/06\/8-ways-to-make-ballet-fun-for-boys-2\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Ways to Make Ballet Fun For Boys"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know the world of ballet needs more men. So how do we, as teachers, keep boys interested in ballet class, at any age? Rain Francis consulted Shaw Coleman, who is currently working as a freelance dancer and choreographer in Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

#1.<\/strong>\u00a0Focus on combinations that are less complicated and pretty and more strength-based and energetic. For example, less adage or port de bras, more jumps. \u201cEven when I was a kid and didn’t know what grand allegro was, my favourite barre exercise was grands battements,\u201d says Shaw.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

#2.<\/strong>\u00a0Set specific exercises for the boys. Don’t forget to include things like tour en l’air (or preparatory exercises for tours), turns and hops in a’la seconde, and pirouettes from second position.<\/span><\/p>\n

#3.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cHaving other boys in the class helps,\u201d says Shaw. \u201cMen are very competitive, so having a sparring partner can be motivating.\u201d Wherever possible, have special boys-only classes to work purely on techniques for male dancers. If there are no other boys in your school of a similar age, encourage your male students to bring a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n

#4.<\/strong>\u00a0Make a clear distinction between ballet for girls and ballet for boys. Of course, the classical technique remains the same, but the functionality of it \u2013 as well as the aesthetic \u2013 differs. \u201cBoys need to hear the message ‘what you’re doing is for men, not for girls’,\u201d says Shaw.<\/span><\/p>\n

#5.<\/strong>\u00a0Encourage your students to find male role models so they can see what they are striving for. Role models can be famous dancers such as Nureyev, Baryshnikov\u00a0or Acosta, a favourite dancer from a local company, a male teacher, or an older student. If there are no male ballet teachers at your school, arrange regular one-off workshops or masterclasses with a male teacher to inspire your boys.<\/span><\/p>\n

#6.<\/strong>\u00a0Make sure your school has published uniform requirements for boys as well as girls, even if you only have one male student. \u201c[Not having uniform requirements] always made me feel like an oddity,\u201d says Shaw. \u201cIt was like they weren’t set up for teaching boys, that I wasn’t especially welcome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

#7.<\/strong>\u00a0As boys hit puberty, it’s important to have \u201cthe jockstrap talk\u201d with them. \u201cThere were no older guys in my dance school at the time I went through puberty,\u201d says Shaw. \u201cThe female teachers either didn’t know or didn’t want to have that conversation with me. I would look at pictures of pro dancers and try to work out what they were wearing under their tights. I remember being embarrassed every class wearing just jocks under my tights, feeling very exposed.\u201d 11 or 12 is a good age to transition to wearing a dance belt. \u201cI didn’t work it out until I was 14 or 15!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

#8.<\/strong>\u00a0These days, there is unlimited access to so much material to inspire your boys. Point them towards YouTube videos of outstanding male dancers, and encourage them to read autobiographies and attend performances. Teach them variations from the classical repertoire, tailored to their age and skill level.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Rain Francis of\u00a0<\/span>Dance Informa.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: A scene from Billy Elliot<\/em> the movie.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The post 8 Ways to Make Ballet Fun For Boys<\/a> appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all know the world of ballet needs more men. So how do we, as teachers, keep boys interested in ballet class, at any age? Rain Francis consulted Shaw Coleman, who is currently working as a freelance dancer and choreographer… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1548,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547\/revisions\/1548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fullrenovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}