Boys in class

[Guest dance4life87]

at my ballet studio, there is only 1 boy and he is about 7 years old. Is it bad to not have boys in the studio? Becuase if you are training to be a professional dancer, shouldn't it be good to do ballet sometimes with the boys to do some of the pas de deux witht he girls (I hope I used pas de deux right!), so can someone help me out here, thanks!!

[Mel Johnson]

I'd have to say, yes, not having boys in a school is not a good thing. It's a real problem for schools to attract boys to ballet class, though, especially in areas outside of major cities. Sometimes, proximity to a major city taps out the suburban market for boys! They all end up in professional or pre-professional programs!

[Guest Passion4Ballet]

same problem in my ballet school. there are two boys who dance ballet (others only jazz) and they're both about 11! is inexperience with pas de deux quite bad if i hope to have a career in ballet? is it alright if the only experience with boys is in an si? its just tough where i live, ireland is hardly the dance centre of the world let alone the prime place for boys to dance!

[Mel Johnson]

Chances are that inexperience with being partnered will not significantly injure your chances of being hired at an entry level in a professional company, especially a large one with corps, soloists and principal dancers. Many times, a young woman entering the field's first experience of double work is after she's hired! It's not as common as it used to be, but it's still there!

[Perfect Performer]

I Have the same problem. All the boys who take at my school are either in level higher then mine, Shorter then me, Or younger then me. And if they were my height and my age, I Still couldn't be partnered only because they can't lift someone as tall as them or they hadn't beeen in ballet for more then a month. And after awhile I was starting to get worried because, I Was meeting all these people who had been partnered before, And I was starting to wonder if it was going to hurt my chance of getting into a company, Because I have absolutely no experience with a partner.

[Mel Johnson]

It used to be that most girls' first experience of partnering had to wait until she was in her first job. It's still that way in a lot of cases, but not as bad as it used to be. During the Second World War, girls at the School of American Ballet used to be given a dollar apiece to go down into the streets and find some nice 4Fs who wouldn't mind the chance and the buck to come in and be partners in what was then termed "adagio" class. I can hear them now, "Dibs on Harry the Wino!";)

[Guest Twinkletoes98]

Yeah, we only have one boy over 10, but he doesn't dance ballet.

 

Mr. Johnson, it's funny you mentioned that, because our teacher for jazz likes to do a partner dance for recitals (ballroom, swing, etc.) and she encouragesus to ask a male friend to come join us, usually free of charge! Most of us always find one, and they always enjoy it, and usually come back for the next season!

[Mel Johnson]

Good, Kristen, the first trick is to get them through the door!

[Guest dancer04]

We have two boys in our studio though I don't think they reall count. They are both in Pre-Ballet. I'm not too sure they will partnering any day soon!