Conduct conditioning

[Guest Turnout Burnout]

It seems to me some that ballet teachers like their boys to be wild and rowdy. Disrespect for rules and rude behavior is tolerated through empty threats. I know there is the romantic notion of being “bad," such as a rock n' roller or action film bad @$$. That’s not what I’m talking about. The kind of bad I see fostered is just irresponsible and undisciplined behavior.

 

Does behavior affect your dancing? Do bad people who do bad things dance better? Can you be a gentleman but a good ballet dancer simultaneously?

[Victoria Leigh]

I don't know what kind of teachers you are working with or observing, but bad behavior is definitely NOT acceptable in any reputable school, from either males or females. Ballet is a very disciplined art form, and people who do not comply will not do well at all. I know of NO teachers, male or female, who condone bad behavior in male dancers.

[Joseph11]

I have only been dancing since January. I was not exposed to ballet as a child, and have no previous experience with dance. I attend classes at 2 locations - a small school , where no adult classes are offered and I study with much younger students, and a second school that is predominantly adult classes. I have witnessed similar behavior as the kind you mentioned at the first school.

 

My opinion (for what it is worth) is that I am a minority at the first school (adult-male-ballet), and so whether or not I agree with the instructor's methods, I keep my mouth closed (even though I bite my tongue a lot). I enjoy Ballet, learn a lot at this school and want to continue attending. I feel that it is not my place to tell the instructor how to run their class, and I am also reluctant to voice an opinion that may result in my being asked to leave the school.

 

On that note - do any other adult male (begineer) students ever feel that no one really takes their interest in ballet seriously? I love to dance ballet, and I am only sorry I didn't discover this passion at an early age. No, I will never be a professional, and that's okay with me, but I still take my dancing seriously and want to get as good as I can. Sometimes I just feel like the schools don't feel the same way.

[Mel Johnson]

A good teacher wants all his/her students to be enthusiastic, and if properly trained, knows how to derive the productive use of this enthusiasm. Boys and girls demonstrate how they are engaged with the work in different manners, so the teacher must know something about child psychology, whether from instruction or by experience.

 

Male dancers can indeed be perfect gentlemen. In fact, most male dancers I know are on the way there, to a greater or lesser extent. (I, personally, am nearly quite housebroken) However, there are turkeys in every job.