Here’s a heads up to parents of young male dancers heading down the ballet route. If your son becomes a ballet boy, by which I mean a serious ballet student, beware that he likely will begin to think he should ditch the idea of heading for the hallowed halls of higher learning and head instead […]
First Day of YAGP Offers this Mom a Surprise
I showed up at the Youth American Grand Prix regional competition in Northern California expecting to see some awesome dancing. I sat down in the dark theater ready to watch the 14-year-old contemporary dance category. After Julian’s two-year stint in a pre-professional teen contemporary dance company, I was excited to see the entrees. I rubbed […]
YAGP Here We Come!
I haven’t written too much about Julian’s preparation for Youth American Grand Prix. In fact, early on this year, I said he wasn’t gong to be allowed to compete because his technique was not up to par. However, that all changed after the Nutcracker performances ended. At that time the director of City Ballet School, […]
Taking Company Class at San Francisco Ballet
Julian recently received the chance to take company class at San Francisco Ballet. This opportunity came about via his father and his student choreography piece from TDC last year. He took advantage of it earlier this month. While Julian and I were in New York this summer, Julian’s father went with the girls who were […]
New School Year, New Focus, New Dance Program
I didn’t realize I’d let so much time pass since my last post. Time flies when you’re having fun…not. Julian and I got back from New York, and I entered into a harried three and a half weeks of getting him to the TDC summer intensive, preparing for my daughter’s 18th birthday party and to […]
Studying Male Ballet Roles Helps Boys Become Better Ballet Dancers
Not long ago, one of my readers made a comment. I realized right away, she knew what she was talking about, so I asked her if she felt qualified to write a guest blog post for My Son Can Dance. Turns out, she was more than qualified. Today, she sent me a great post about […]
Dancin' Boy Issues: Post #2
Okay…finally back after a brief hiatus. Sorry about that. I can’t even remember what all has happened since my last post…A Chorus Line is over. We are on to Spring Concert rehearsals. Anyone who follows me on Facebook can see Julian’s solo from A Chorus Line. Someone posted it and I shared it. I’m not […]
Whoo Hoo! Julian's Into ABT and We're Off to NYC Again!
Just a short note to say that Julian received notification late last week that he had been accepted again into the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive Program in New York City. Whoo hoo! However, we were a bit upset at first to see that he had not been awarded a scholarship. Last year he received […]
A New Year, A New Website for Boys/Men Interested in Ballet
Happy New Year! Can you believe it? With the blue moon shining over us–a unique event–we entered into a new decade. I hope this will be a fantastic and unique year for all our dancin’ boys and young men. I also hope you everyone is enjoying their “vacation from dance.” We actually didn’t have one. […]
My Jewish Son Opens as the Prince in the Nutcracker Tomorrow!
Oy! My nice Jewish boy appears tomorrow on the big stage–the San Jose Center for Performing Arts–as the one and only prince in the classic Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker. Well…we are not so religious to care really, but it makes for a good joke anyway! And yes,tomorrow evening is the opening show of San Jose […]
How to Inspire Your Son to Dance
If you want to inspire your son to dance, take him to see other men dance. In particular, take him to see really great men dancing like real men. We drove two and a half hours on Friday night to see Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance perform in Santa Rosa, CA. We ‘ve been […]
Speeding Towards Nutcracker Performances
OMG! I can’t keep up with everything. November notoriously is a terribly busy month for me and for Julian. I have another blog that I must handle every day (see www.writenonfictioninnovember.wordpress.com) and Julian has Nutcracker rehearsals on Saturday after TDC rehearsals and all day on Sunday. Not to mention that I was editing two books […]
ABT Summer Intensive Ends with Awesome Performance
The six weeks of American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive ended with a bang! The final performance was awesome with the advanced students, in particular, offering up some really amazing and pretty professional-looking dancing. In particular, the violet level choreographed one number themselves (with the help of their instructor), and it was a stand out by far! […]