Clare's Dad

On Saturday, Clare auditioned to be in The Nutcracker at her ballet school.  Even though she’s taking classes there, auditions are held and being cast isn’t guaranteed.  The lead roles in the ballet are performed by senior students and professional dancers; the younger kids play angels and soldiers.  Clare was cast as an angel and is really excited.  She won’t only be performing at a local theater, but also at The Bushnell in Hartford.

We’re a little concerned that Clare will have to go to rehearsal twice a week.  She’s already going to her regular dance class one day, and she has swimming and diving at the YMCA another day.  Clare’s Mom and I have told her that if she can’t also stay focused on her school work, she’ll have to drop out.  Drop out of The Nutcracker that is, not school.

We’re also a little concerned about how seriously some of the other young ballerinas’ parents take dancing.  While I was waiting to pick up Clare from her dance class last week, a mom struck up a conversation with me.  How old is your daughter?  How long has she been dancing?  Did we look at other dance schools and ballet companies?

As the conversation went on, I realized that this mom takes her daughter’s ballet pretty seriously.  Maybe too seriously.  She’s planning years of training and a professional career for her daughter.  And her daughter is also only six or seven.

When I mentioned that Clare also goes to the Y for swimming, the woman asked me how Clare was going to work swimming and ballet into a career.

How is she going to work swimming and ballet into a career?  Really?

I was tempted to bring up syncronized swimming or possible remakes of Busby Berkeley musicals.  But I said that Clare was taking ballet and swimming for fun.  She might get a career out of them and that’s fine.  But she probably won’t and that’s fine too.  The woman’s look was somewhere between being confused and being insulted.

Luckily, most kids and parents also seem to be at Clare’s ballet school for the fun and the experience.  I can appreciate that some young girls do want a career as a dancer, and in this field the sooner they start the better I suppose.  But they have to appreciate that some girls just want to have fun.

Has anyone else dealt with parents who take their kids’ activities this seriously?