If you thought I disappeared into the Internet ethers, you’re wrong. I was tied to my keyboard by another writing project. I was asked last minute and given three days to write a cover piece for Movmnt magazine on magician Criss Angel’s newest collaboration with Cirque du Soleil and choreographer Wade Robson. It’s an amazing show called Believe in Las Vegas. (If anyone wants to donate some tickets to me, I’ll take them. After this I could use a Vegas vacation with my family, and my daughter wants to see the Vegas Cirque water show, too.) You might have seen a preview of Believe on So You Think You Can Dance last summer. If not, you still can by watching this Youtube video of the number I think is called “Homage.” It’s classic Robson…
And that’s where I’ve been until 2 a.m. two nights in a row leaving only to become a chauffeur to my son. My daughter is busy at school being the personal costume attendant to Cyrano in the school’s production of Cyrano de Bergerac – also responsible for putting his nose on and off – and also head costume designer/attendant. She only needs pick up at 11:30 p.m., and my husband has been doing that after picking up Julian at 8 p.m. or later.
If you don’t know Movmnt magazine, you might want to check it out. It’s the creation of international journalist David Benaym and Danny Tidwell (of SYTYCD fame). It’s full of interesting articles on all sorts of things related to pop culture, including the most up and coming dancers and choreographers. The next time you visit the Movmnt website, you’ll find the cover featuring the Believestory I wrote! And inside, I can tell you (Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone you heard it hear…) you’ll also find a piece on a former Billy Elliot from the musical – if you want to read about a young male dancer/singer who made it.
By the way, the current issue of Dance Spirit has an article on the boys of Billy Elliot. Julian auditioned…made it through to the last audition and was kept for two hours instead of 30 minutes. We were sure he had gotten the part. But he sure doesn’t look like those kids…he’s got peach fuzz on his lip and his voice is changing. We figure that’s why he wasn’t chosen. They did a time line on these kids and figured out when they’d begin to not look like kids. Julian doesn’t look like a kid. Well, that’s our rationalization on him not being selected anyway. (Couldn’t be that he wasn’t good enough – although his singing could have used some help!)
Be sure to click on the link for Dance Spirit; there’s a great video there of Alex Wong dancing to a piece called “Capture of the Tiger.” (I can’t say Julian looks that good yet…but he wants to look that good.)
Which brings me to my point: He’s over his “thing” about not wanting to change how he was taught to do ballet. (See my last post on October 18 and the great comment posted by Nichelle Strzepek. Check out her website and blog at http://danceadvantage.wordpress.com/. She posted one about my blog here.) I guess he just needed to moan and groan and complain and be stuck for a while.
We all do that to some extent. No one really likes to change. And, after all, he worked hard for three years to get his hands to do that thing they do when they move from one position to another and to get his head to tilt like that. Of course, he’s going to balk at first about being told to change. Boys do tend to be a bit more stubborn than some other kids…at least Julian is more stubborn an ornery than his sister, Ariel, by far.
But we’ve heard it from more than one person that we’ve asked by now that these really are just “stylistic” aspects of ballet. Many schools of ballet exists with different “styles,” and it’s good to learn all of them. In fact, we were told that the style he learned, Bournonville, is one of the hardest and could be called the “Irish dancing of ballet.” We also heard it called “ballet in a box.” That’s nice… He was told, “Now that you know how to do it, put it on a shelf and learn something else. Take it down if you ever need it again.” Lovely. Glad I spent all that money and he spent three years of his time and effort learning that method.
The fact of the matter is, Julian actually does have good ballet technique. Everyone says so. He has a some things to work on, but for a 14-year old, he looks pretty good. And, now that he’s over his fit of loyalty to his past teachers and his stubbornness over not wanting to change, he can move on.
I guess that’s a sign of maturity. It goes with that fuzz on his lips and the deepening voice if not the lousy grades and tears that come so easily still. He’s a boy in an ever-more manly body. Change…it happens to the best of us even when we aren’t looking and when we are. It happens when it’s forced upon us or when we choose it willingly. It just happens.
Thanks for the nod! It is definitely a sign of maturity that your son quickly moved through his “stubbornness” to acceptance. It is something we all have to deal with from time to time. I’ve seen and heard of adult and professional dancers conducting themselves less gracefully than it seems your son has.
And, don’t worry, I don’t think the time spent on this technique was wasted. I get the “put it on a shelf” reference, but the truth is I think he will often draw from all of his dance experiences. In fact, every bit of information that dancers absorb helps shape who they are and who they become as movers, performers, and technicians. He will utilize the information he’s learned in all kinds of ways, even if he, nor anyone else, recognizes the influence.
Learning about the different styles of ballet is very interesting. Peter is still such a raw beginner that he hasn’t come up against the need to learn anything more than the basics yet.
This is like a little glimpse into the crystal ball for us.
Oh, the peachfuzz on the lip. Does your son hate it? My poor little guy does, and this is the age where casting for anything becomes awkward doesn’t it?
Not quite able to play a “man” and too old to play the kid.
It is wonderful that Julian made it into the final cut for Billy Elliot. When you consider all that casting directors have to take into consideration that (including forcasting the future with adolescent actors) that speaks very well of your little guy’s talent and skill!
Actually, I should have been clearer. He made it through all those auditions here in San Francisco. What happened after that, who knows. Not me. I can only guess. I just know they kept him 2 hours instead of 30 minutes for that final audition and seemed very excited about him.
Then they took all the videos of all the finalists, including Julian, from all the different cities where they held auditions and sent them to England and Australia and New York for viewing by the people who would decide. I doubt the selection process was easy – especially given the age group and the fact that these boys were heading into puberty. But Julian couldn’t play a boy as young as those they’ve cast, that’s for sure. They were right not to choose him for that reason.
And he likes his peach fuzz, and won’t let me in the bathroom when he showers any more…but tells me there is hair elsewhere. He will, however, lie on the floor and show me the beginnings of his “six pack” and stand up and show me the slight indentation of a “four pack.” But his split…well…he is still working on that. Seems the pubescent body doesn’t like to stretch. The muscles can’t keep up with the bones.