hobo mama
We loved reading your post about how much ballet means to you. We certainly agree that ballet is wonderful for young children! Thanks hobo mama for the inspiring and thoughtful post.
Prima Princessa -Keep on dancing!
The review from December 19, 2009:
12.19.2009
Why I want my son to take ballet classes
I just entered a giveaway for a ballet-themed children's DVD, and I was inspired to write up a little post for my review site explaining why I was so hep to win a DVD from (yes, this is the name) Prima Princessa
Now, if you're not interested in the giveaway yourself, that's cool. But I wanted to share what I wrote about ballet, parenting, and passing on the gift of an active body. (Original post here.)
Today's Give Away is giving away a Blush Topless Undershirt from Blush and Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker, a 40-minute DVD from Prima Princessa!
I'll refer you to this post for a preview of the Blush topless undershirt/belly band, good for maternity, breastfeeding, or just covering your tummy in general!
I want to highlight the Prima Princessa DVD
I enjoyed but was not good at ballet growing up. We moved around a lot, so I took classes here and there, but it was not a high priority for my mom, who was not a girly-girl herself and who couldn't understand how she'd given birth to one. When I moved to Seattle, I found out about a Very Beginning Ballet class for adults only. It still took me a couple years to work up the courage — but eventually I enrolled. And I've been dancing since! I did take some time off during my pregnancies and postpartum recovery, but that's fine. I'm doing it for fun, not with any grand goal in mind. I am not a physically adept person, as every one of my despairing gym teachers would attest. Ballet has allowed me to connect with what my body can do. It has helped with some of my balance problems. The repetition and concentration required make me feel centered and aware of myself as a whole person, body and all.
I want that for my son. I don't know if it will be ballet specifically that inspires him, and I know I can't force such a revelation. But I hope he can grow up enjoying moving his body. If he has his father's and my predilection toward suckiness in sports, I don't want (failing at) competition to get in the way of enjoying physical movement and working toward improving himself.
Mikko's 2 and a half. He can begin toddler ballet classes at 3. I'm going to enroll him and see what happens. If he doesn't like it, he's free to leave. If he stays till the age of partnering, I guarantee he'll be the darling of all the girly-girls who mostly fill the classes!
I had a helper take him to one of my classes so he could see where I go every week, and he loved watching me and the other ladies dance. (My class currently is all women, though I have been in adult classes with men as well.) He also got to see some of the little kids dance before my class began.
The next logical step is to have him see a real ballet, on stage. But I think (know!) he's too young to sit through a performance, so it would be a waste of the ticket price.
And so we come around to this DVD. It seems to have it all: It shows a real performance by a professional ballet company. It shows little children dancing. It shows older, accomplished children (including boys!) demonstrating specific steps. I love it! I think Mikko will, too.
Enter fast for the Blush Topless Undershirt or Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker at Today's Give Away by Dec. 20.
Now, as an aspiring unschooler, I do have a few qualms about a ballet class, but I'll observe it when he starts to make sure it fits my expectations. I don't find that my own class is restrictive or triggers my learned behaviors of trying to please the teacher, but then, I am taking it as an adult. I appreciate that the other women and girls taking along with me are not competitive and are kind to everyone in the class, and there's a wide range of body shapes and sizes, as well as ages, which I love. I don't think that classes are inherently bad for unschoolers, as long as the child retains a sense of autonomy and is taking the class for himself, not to please the teacher — or his mother! Yes, I am aware of this risk and will take pains not to project my own desires onto my son. I do think it's perfectly natural, however, to lead children into activities that you personally enjoy, as a starting point for them to discover their own preferences.
And, of course, there's the feminist in me who, maybe in reaction to my own girly obsession with ballet, says, "Boys can, too, take ballet! I'll show them. I'll show ALL of them!" But, again, I don't want that to be an expectation Mikko has to live up to.
I also love the idea of doing ballet with him, that we could practice together at home, go to performances together, talk about what we're doing in our separate classes. In the same vein of co-participation, Sam has been thinking of enrolling with Mikko in a parent-toddler martial arts class.
I'm curious. What are your views or hopes as far as encouraging activeness in your children? Do plan to sign them up for any sports teams or classes? How does your own experience with athletics as a child fit in with your plans? How will you participate with your child? You don't have to answer all of those questions, just whatever sparks a thought!
I want to give a shout-out to the two Seattle ballet studios at which I've taken classes: Thank you, The Ballet Studio & Seattle Civic Dance Theatre! I recommend either one if you're local and looking for a good adult class, and SCDT also (mostly) has children's classes.
Photo of The Nutcracker rehearsal courtesy cproppe on flickr (cc)
Photo of The Nutcracker rehearsal courtesy cproppe on flickr (cc)
DVD features actual performance segments by the San Francisco Ballet and the students at the School of American Ballet show kids a few dance steps. Best of all it provides a wonderful introduction to Tchaikovsky's famous ballet. An animated, sparkly fairy ballerina named Prima Princessa describes and provides a summary of the plot, the dances and the music in terms that young children can easily understand. She covers both Act I and Act II and children alternately watch segments of the actual ballet and instructional dance clips. Positions and steps covered include Passé, Glissade and Sauté (échappé sauté and sauté arabesque). The 40 minute movie also includes two bonus segments:
and more recently, 
.
DVD. What is so great about both is that they include real ballet performances of the actual ballet with child-appropriate narration explaining what is happening in that ballet Act. Unlike musicals or plays, there is no spoken word at The Ballet so kids may struggle with understanding the storyline as it is played out through dance. In between segments of dance, 
I find The Nutcracker a bit hard to explain to fidgety kids, so before I fork over $50 a seat to take them to see it in person, I'm going to let them watch 
. I think that it is a great way to introduce the ballet to the little girls in your life.
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