The Girl Just Wants to Have Fun
September 29, 2008 at 9:45 am | Posted in Activities, Ballet, Swimming | 5 CommentsOn 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?
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Daily! Zoe’s ballet school is full of those high expectation parents. To it’s credit, the school has an extensive list of dancers that have gone on to have very nice professional careers, but I’m certainly not pushing Zoe, nor do I necessarily think Zoe is cut out for that. She, like Clare, just wants to have fun. Oh, and wear lipstick and make-up at the performances.
Comment by Ed (zoesdad) — September 29, 2008 #
Yes, this happens all the time around here – in everything. Of course it also comes back the other way when you hear from your children, “Why didn’t you make me do *whatever it is* longer so I could be good at it now!”
Anyway – congratulations to Clare – I hope she does have fun!
Comment by Spincerely — September 29, 2008 #
I won’t have to deal with Ballet for Lukas, so I guess I won’t have to deal with parents like that, right? LOL! I know there will be just as many with kids on the baseball team.
Comment by James — September 29, 2008 #
The dance school we all three have used is a serious school – professional dancers go there, people on Broadway take classes. I love that – it shows what you can become if you work really hard. Alex and Dani still take classes but I don’t have time on a weekly basis.
No offense but it’s not about the parents. It’s about the other kids and about the dancing.
Comment by Sam — September 30, 2008 #
Around here it’s football. Parents start their boys in pee wee football when they’re as young as 3 or 4…and they take it SO seriously. The intermural basketball teams are a very serious thing, too. It’s one (but only one) of the reasons I don’t have my boys involved. My kids aren’t particularly athletic, and I know they’d be benched in favor of the children who practice hours and hours a week. Some parents even do their kids’ homework on the sidelines while the kids practice/play!
Comment by Alissa — October 7, 2008 #