As I await Julian’s arrival home after another year dancing professionally at SemperOper Ballett in Dresden, Germany, I occassionally read the accounts posted in the My Son Can Dance private Facebook group about all the dancing’ boys leaving home to go to summer intensives. My son is taking the summer off, while these younger boys […]
How a Ballet Program in Rural WA Attracts and Trains Male Dancers
When I received an email from Mick Gunter, who own and runs the Centralia Ballet Academy with his wife in Centralia, WA, I took notice. They started the school three years ago in a small rural town in the southwestern part of the State, yet in the first year of the program, they attracted a […]
Looking for a Summer Dance Intensive for Your Son?
It’s that time of year again…time to audition for summer dance intensives. I feel quite removed from the process this year because Julian will be handling it by himself in New York. He’s made his own decisions about which intensives he wants to attend, and he will sign up and audition on his own as […]
The 1st 2 Weeks at School of American Ballet’s Intensive
First, let me apologize for my long silence. Life is still crazy in the Lacey/Amir household. Ron and Julian went off to the airport on Saturday morning the 25th of July. Julian took off for NYC and Ron for Germany. I took off for a workshop I had to teach for 30 people. I left […]
Happy Belated National Tap Dance Day!
Well, I’m a bit late, but that’s not unusual for me when it comes to wishing friends and family birthday and anniversary wishes. So why should it be any different for national tap dance day? Anyway…Yesterday, May 25th, was National Tap Day! So, hurray for tapping! I can still remember Julian when he was just […]
What I Learned from the ABT Summer Intensive Experience
For all the mother’s and father’s out there considering the pros and cons of sending their kids off to a summer intensive or of chaperoning them during the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive in New York City, this mother offers up the lessons she learned while chaperoning her son for seven weeks in New York this past summer while he danced.
Meeting Debbie Allen and Experiences at DADA
We took off for LA on Tuesday morning, skipping dance on Tuesday (and a Passover seder on both the first and second night — Wednesday and Thursday — of the holiday) so we could make it to UCLA for a tour by afternoon. That was the start of three days of intensive college tours primarily for […]
Off to LA and DADA
It’s spring break here, and I’m taking both my kids down to Los Angeles. My daughter needs to tour a few colleges down there, and while she is checking out the costume design programs, Julian is going to check out their dance programs. We’ll visit the University of Southern California and then UCLA and California […]
Free Ballet Classes Draw Boys Into The Studio
I recently was asked to write a short sidebar on how to get boys into the dance studio and keep them there. (The piece will appear in an upcoming issue of Dance Teacher magazine.) One of the things I stressed was that studios should offer free or discounted classes for boys, as well as scholarships. […]
Alone Again…How Many Boys are in Your Son's Ballet Class?
Today I received a comment from someone (see yesterday’s post) whose 13-year-old son is lucky enough to be in a boy’s ballet class. Not only that, it’s taught by a male ballet teacher! Whoo hoo! But she rightfully was grateful that, even though there are only four boys in attendance, her son has a class “that […]