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 […]
New School Year, New Dance Year, New Attitude
Julian began school on Monday. This year he’s a sophomore. He seems to have a new attitude (Thank God!) about school, schoolwork and grades. In fact, one of his best friends and a fellow dancer told me yesterday that Julian is “a different person.” It seems he was angry at her for talking on the […]
Week 5 of ABT Summer Intensive: Winding Down
OMG! We have less than a week and a half less until the American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive ends! Hard to believe…Julian is still having a blast, but I’m a bit homesick at this point, stressed about work and wishing we weren’t staying for an extra week. We are just doing way too much. At […]
How to Get the Most Out of a Summer Ballet Intensive: Rasta Thomas Offers Advice (Part 2)
During my conversation with Rasta Thomas about how boys can prepare for a summer dance ballet intensive, which I wrote about in my last post, he also offered some pretty savvy advice for how our young men should conduct themselves once they actually find themselves on site and ready to begin the intensive itself. Here […]
How to Prepare for a Summer Ballet Intensive: Rasta Thomas Offers Advice (Part 1)
At long, long last, I have some really superb advice for all the boys attending summer ballet intensives. Actually, any boy attending any type of summer dance intensive will benefit from the advice offered by ballet great Rasta Thomas. I first “discovered” Rasta after I’d actually seen him perform as Eddie in the national tour of the […]
Coming Soon! Rasta Thomas on How Boys Can Prepare for Summer Ballet Intensives
Yes…after much ado and a lot of requests, today Rasta Thomas called me and gave me a 30-minute interview on the subject of how boys can prepare for a summer ballet intensive. I had written to him several weeks ago, but he hadn’t yet responded; he and I have spoken before, because I interviewed him […]
My Foot Hurts…Again and Other Pains of Being a Young Male Dancer
I’ve got a son who dances. 13-year-old Julian dances six or seven days a week. He spends most of his time doing ballet, because he knows it will make him a great dancer in terms of technique. He has a scholarship at Ballet San Jose. He also does jazz and hip hop at a Studio […]