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#81
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appropriate age - music / ballet class
On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 19:00:49 EDT, David desJardins
wrote: Let's say, then, that there's a huge problem in how ballet is advertised and promoted to small children. I have lots of picture books about ballet, aimed at toddlers through preschool to early elementary ages, and it's hard to find a single one in which all the dancers aren't walking around on their toes most of the time, even children who appear to be much younger than teenagers. My two-year-old daughter started walking around on her toes, after reading many of these books. After reading this thread, I noticed something today that will probably add fuel to the fire. In _Barbie of Swan Lake_ they showed several of the young characters (Kelly and friends dolls) dancing. In one particular scene I watched their feet and these young girls were dancing pointe. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, the animation is based on the NYC ballet company and they likely filmed adult ballerinas dancing this particular scene, but what it shows to young children is that Kelly (who did not dance pointe in _Barbie in the Nutcracker_) as a young girl can dance pointe. My 3 year old son has been walking around on his toes ever since the first time he watched _Barbie in the Nutcracker_ but I had hopes of breaking him of this since the younger characters didn't dance pointe, now I won't have much chance. -- Cheryl Mum to DS#1 (11 Mar 99), DS#2 (4 Oct 00) and DD (30 Jul 02) |
#82
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appropriate age - music / ballet class
In article ,
"Cathy Kearns" wrote: I have to agree with you there. I'm especially annoyed about the latest flap at the Bolshoi, with the ballet telling the news organizations that their prima ballerina was let go because she was too heavy to lift at 110 lbs. Yeah right. In the recreational schools there are boys lifting girls much heavier than 110 lbs. Are they trying to say the men at the Bolshoi are wimpy? I think they should go with the truth, there were working problems that had nothing whatsoever to do with her weight, and 110 lbs isn't heavy. Calling 110 lbs at 5'6" too heavy implied the ideal body the ballet profession is looking for is even more ridiculous than it really is. This is the very reason I steered my daughter away from ballet, and gymnastics, too, when she started wanting to take lessons. She was about four at the time, so it would have been a few years before it was an issue, but we could see already that though she is a sturdy, athletic child and anything but fat, she was never going to be the gymnastics or ballet "type." The last thing I wanted in the world was for her to fall in love with a certain activity, only to be barred from the top team, or relegated to the back of the stage, when she was 8 or 9 or 10--or ever, in fact--because she's big and strong rather than tiny and flexible. It's one thing not to be a star because you decide there are things you'd rather do than practice, and quite another to be rejected out of hand because your body is wrong. So she's doing martial arts at the moment--a sport apparently free of body-type prejudice, at least at our school--and she has instructors, men and women, of all shapes and sizes. And I expect that if she decides she wants to, she'll eventually shine at sports like basketball and volleyball and tennis and swimming, where her body type is welcomed. |
#83
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appropriate age - music / ballet class
"Elizabeth Gardner" wrote in message ... In article , "Cathy Kearns" wrote: I have to agree with you there. I'm especially annoyed about the latest flap at the Bolshoi, with the ballet telling the news organizations that their prima ballerina was let go because she was too heavy to lift at 110 lbs. Yeah right. In the recreational schools there are boys lifting girls much heavier than 110 lbs. Are they trying to say the men at the Bolshoi are wimpy? I think they should go with the truth, there were working problems that had nothing whatsoever to do with her weight, and 110 lbs isn't heavy. Calling 110 lbs at 5'6" too heavy implied the ideal body the ballet profession is looking for is even more ridiculous than it really is. This is the very reason I steered my daughter away from ballet, and gymnastics, too, when she started wanting to take lessons. She was about four at the time, so it would have been a few years before it was an issue, but we could see already that though she is a sturdy, athletic child and anything but fat, she was never going to be the gymnastics or ballet "type." The last thing I wanted in the world was for her to fall in love with a certain activity, only to be barred from the top team, or relegated to the back of the stage, when she was 8 or 9 or 10--or ever, in fact--because she's big and strong rather than tiny and flexible. Though I'm sure there are dance schools that would relegate 10 year olds to the back row because they aren't sticks, I think those school are already few and far between, and shrinking in number. My daughter would go to dance competitions, and though I don't recommend them, for other reasons, you would see that there are great dancers of every shape and size, at the very top levels of their studios. Definitely in the studio dance world, you put your best dancers in the front no matter what size they are. And I have seen fantastic big athletic dancers not only do well in the competitions, but make livings teaching at competitions. In professional modern dance size is also not important. And there are many great modern dancers that are very athletic, but not at all sinewy thin. However, I would never steer a child away from any activity because I thought they might not be able to take it up professionally. There are many adult dancers that just love to dance, as well as adult swimmers, softball players, athletes, and musicians, that don't necessarily make a living at their favorite hobby. If my five year old wanted to take gymnastics and the teachers are happy teaching kids who won't be future olympic stars, then I'd go for it. So she's doing martial arts at the moment--a sport apparently free of body-type prejudice, at least at our school--and she has instructors, men and women, of all shapes and sizes. And I expect that if she decides she wants to, she'll eventually shine at sports like basketball and volleyball and tennis and swimming, where her body type is welcomed. Her body type is welcome many more places than you are assuming. |
#84
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appropriate age - music / ballet class
In article ,
"Cathy Kearns" wrote: "Elizabeth Gardner" wrote in message ... In article , "Cathy Kearns" wrote: However, I would never steer a child away from any activity because I thought they might not be able to take it up professionally. There are many adult dancers that just love to dance, as well as adult swimmers, softball players, athletes, and musicians, that don't necessarily make a living at their favorite hobby. If my five year old wanted to take gymnastics and the teachers are happy teaching kids who won't be future olympic stars, then I'd go for it. That's the trick, though. The gymnastics programs in our area are fine for five and six year olds, psychologically speaking, but the kids who continue are soon separated out into competitive and noncompetitive groups. If my daughter were noncompetitive by nature, I wouldn't mind if she were shunted into the second group (as I think she probably would be, from what I've observed of her flexibililty compared with other kids her age), but she would really feel bad about it because she is, in fact, highly competitive. I'm not sure how it would work out for dance (though I'm pretty sure she'd be in the back row for ballet, for the flexibility issue mentioned above). There's plenty of time when she's a bit older for her to toughen up about competitive situations. There's also plenty of time for her to take up dance if that's where her bliss turns out to be. If there's room in dance for all body types, then there's probably room for people who didn't start when they were tykes. I'm comfortable that the physical skills she's picking up through karate will be useful no matter what other athletic activities she takes up. And while there are some competitive elements to it (sparring, tournaments, etc.), the kids are competing primarily against themselves rather than one another. I think that's a healthier way to go, for my particular kid at this particular point. |
#86
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How to teach what was LIFE SKILLS 101
In article ,
"E" wrote: I'm not sure how all churches work, but my synagogue has annual dues (paid by check quarterly) that my child doesn't see. What she does see is the money that we put in the charity (tzedakah) box weekly. I would assume that there are also some churches that are similar, and that the collections made there weekly are in fact stricly for charity. YMMV. - Blanche There may be some, but I am not aware of any; the church for which I work does have one Sunday a month where the offering goes to a charity selected by the board, and some have second collections for charity -- but I don't know of any that have dues to support the church; generally, the $$ in the collection plate is part of what supports the church. meh -- Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care they aren't dues, but what you have *pledged* to give. at the begining (or just before) you were probably asked to pledge and tell the church how much you were expecting to give during the year so that they would be able to budget for the year. that should go in the envelope that they provide so that they know who to attribute the money to, and also send you a receipt at the end of the year for tax purposes. quite often the loose cash will go towards extra things above and beyond the budget, or other charity type things. The congregations which I have been close enough to to know how they budget have all included "offering collections" as part of their budgeting: we anticipate what we will collect over and above pledges, and that is included in the "income" portion of our budget. Frankly, it's been a (minor) problem for folks who want to pay in cash, but that is an increasingly small percentage of the congregation. We don't hand out pledge envelopes, either -- something that caught me off guard. Most folks either mail their pledges in or put a check in the offering plate clearly marked "pledge payment". Or, if you've got a church that has gone higher tech, like us you have it electronically transferred once a month. EFT makes life easier for everyone! meh -- Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care |
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