My Son Can Dance

One Mom's Musings About Boys in the Dance World

Visualizing the Dancer You Want to Become

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I was reading a post at BoysBallet.wordpress.com, called Being Billy Elliot that is from a story written by Nancy Stetson for the Florida Weekly that talks,  about ballet dancer Stephen Hanna’s role in the Broadway musical Billy Elliot. Hanna plays the grown up “Billy.” The article describes a scene in which Billy is imagining himself as […]

Boys Working Together at NYCDA

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I am happy to report that Julian had a blast at the NYCDA convention despite his reluctance to go. He loved the teachers, the choreography and the competition. I had a blast, although I was only there on Saturday night for the competition and on Sunday, and here’s why: I had such fun watching the […]

Getting Ready for Another Convention: NYCDA

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I didn’t write this week, because we didn’t have much going on. The company turned its focus to preparing for the NYCDA convention, where they will once again compete. Julian’s not too excited about going to this convention. He says three in a row was too many. Plus, he wanted to attend a dance the […]

Strong Sense of Self Helps Boys Dance Well

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Julian and I had a conversation yesterday about the post I had just written about developmental stages and how they affect dancers.  (He was adamant that I should be writing about him, by the way…) I told him about the girls and boys I most watched at the convention and how I thought their dancing […]

Do Development Stages Affect Boys' Dance Ability?

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We’re back from The Pulse. Julian is tired, happy to have danced with some great choreographers and to have learned some cool choreography, and a bit disappointed not to have won a scholarship of any sort. I know…I know. The scholarship isn’t important. Tell that to Julian. He had several choreographers talk to him and tell him he was […]

Refocusing on the Real Purpose of This Blog

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Thanks to the young man who set me straight today, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my blog today. I’ve been considering who reads it, the affect it has on readers and what I want to write about. In fact, I’ve been remembering the true focus on this blog and how I think I […]

Convention Choreography: Make it Your Own or Not?

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Today I have to admit that I was called to the carpet by a reader, a young man who feels I’ve written about him, and rightly so. I didn’t name him, but I guess he felt “described” well enough for someone to notice. And he also pointed out that I had made a few judgements […]

Preparing for Going Solo Performance and Copellia

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Things are gearing up again. Julian has been practicing an old routine of his from a few years ago called “Hats” for solo studio performance on Thursday. We didn’t realize that he could actually perform in this event, so he didn’t prepare a solo. (We’ll know for next year.) So, he pulled out his very-successful […]

Choreography Roles Cast on "Looks" Versus Ability… Well, Strength.

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This has been an easy week, since Julian was still sick and stayed home from dance until time for choreography-again-on Friday and Saturday. Turns out the bronchitis was probably a virus, and it’s taking a long time for the cough to go away. He is still coughing up a storm and two days of choreography […]

Free Ballet Classes Draw Boys Into The Studio

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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. […]

Tap, Tap, Cough, Cough

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Someone at Nuvo convention had some wicked virus or bronchitis, and, of course, Julian picked got it. Fever, coughing…whole shebang. We’ve gone to the doctor, gotten antibiotics, and gotten a bit of relief. However, he had to miss the first of four days of tap choreography for the upcoming spring concert. He was bummed. He […]

Empty Green Fields of Raw Talent…After 11 Years of Dance Training?

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Okay, so call me a Dance Mom or a Stage Mom. I think my son’s got some talent when it comes to dance. That said, some other people who know more than I do about dance, and who aren’t related to Julian, think he’s got some talent, too. But lately a few dance professionals seem […]