(Nutcracker wearing a dance belt. Really, what else is there to say?)It is a right of passage for every little girl who sticks with ballet long enough; she gets to wear a tutu, the ethereal spun sugar confection of which a million princess dreams are made.
For the boys, there is the dance belt.
A thong...yes, a thong, since the full bottom kind create what I suppose must be called, (forgive me little danseurs) "panty line" and in tights these lines are hideously apparent. Since other things are made much more apparent in tights as well, it is the job of the all important dance belt to preserve a gentleman's modesty and the sensibilities of the ballet audience who, while they may enjoy watching the dancer "fly" do not wish to see his junk do the same.
Not only that but dance belts, which are a kind of athletic supporter for dancers, can be a life saver when a ballerina's errant foot/knee/elbow makes contact with the wrong place.
Boys may not like the thong aspect, but without the protection afforded by a dance belt the 'Nut'cracker will do just that!
The whole dance belt situation just underscores the need for male ballet teachers, not only as role models, but for their practical experience in situations such as these.
How does one...er...situate oneself? Well don't look at ME?! While I can fake teaching the SP to shave, with the help of a leg razor and an indifference to embarrassment I can't even BEGIN to fake this one! For, while it may not have been my face I have shaved. I have never adjusted.
For those of you who follow this blog (and that means you are my son, so hey baby) here is a link to an interesting article from the New York Times on getting boys into ballet.
5 comments:
Okay, that photo is just too funny! And the look on the Nutcracker's face...LOL! I'm going to post a link to this photo in my blog tomorrow on the same topic - thanks to your suggestion!
And thanks for the article. It was interesting reading and spurred some thoughts for future blogs as well.
Oh my god, you've checked out this blog and you are NOT my son!
Heheheh, incredible, and wonderful to have you here.
Have you abdicated? You don't seem to have posted a blog in ages. I've checked here over the last 6-9 months...Hope you are both okay.
My son is no where near ready for a dance belt yet, he is only 5 1/2 this is his 2nd year of ballet and 4rd year of Jazz. But it is so nice to hear about other families with boys who dance. We live in a small southern town and he is the only boy in most of his classes. Thanks to him though, the studio has managed to get together enough brave little boys with open minded parents to start an all-boys hip-hop class.
Anyway, thanks for making me feel less alone and weird.
Cute story, been there for sure. I dance professionally now, and just wanted to let you know, the dance belt in no way protects the boy's parts from anything, on the contrary, it puts it in perfect position to get smacked by a knee during partnered turns
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