I would like to start this blog with a topic which sometimes seems not to matter. I am going to write about the ballet and the prejudices that may appear when a boy says that he wants to be a dancer instead of being a footballer, doctor or engineer, and the differences among countries on this subjects. And these countries are going to be Spain and England.
What
does it happen in Spain? It's true that when the girls are little,
they use to go to a ballet's academy, it's something elegant and nice
to see, but what happens with the boys? Spain loves art, but the
masculine figure in the ballet when you are a little boy is not well
accepted. Since childhood, we should be educated to love the music
and dance, but I think that Spain is still a society in which the
girls learn ballet dance and the boys play football, considering that
if a boy performs classic dance, he probably would become effeminate.
Unlike Spain, there are countries as England where they understand that arts don't have gender. At school, they encourage children to love the theatre and music, they know that the knowledge about music or dance provide advantageous skills such as improving the attention, controlling your body motion and discipline. There are many elements that a dancer or musician can put into practice in his daily life. This statement is supported by Kate Middleton because she is in favour of introducing her child, Prince George, in the dance world. There are also relevant English dancers like Rupert Pennefather or Edward Watson, who have become prominent figures of the Royal Ballet. The British movie Billy Elliot shows how in a small village a boy wants to be a dancer and how he is afraid to tell it.
To sum up, in the 21st century, the masculine figure in the classic dance is not fully accepted yet. The closest case I can tell about is my brother’s. He has been dancing since he was 4 years old and he plays piano and violin also. Some children in his school laughed at him, they saw it something strange, unusual and then he suffered but today he is 11 and he has realised the good things he gets from practising ballet. Not only it's my brother's case, also there is the case of Guillermo Cabrera, his father dreamed his son became a future Messi, but the boy preferred the world of dancing. He has worked hard and nowadays with 11 years old the Royal Ballet School of London has noticed him. England is one of the countries which support the artistic world and I would like to think that maybe someday the Spanish society will change his mind about little boys learning ballet. In conclusion Ballet is not a question about gender but it's about loving the music. Dancing is to see a body in freedom.
Mercedes Recuero Sánchez-Simón
EPD 11 Group: Estíbaliz Solana y Claudia Ortuño
Hi Mercedes. It is true that a boy who loves dancing is kind of excluded by the society, and that's a pity. I really liked the movie Billy Elliot which shows how a child realizes his dream to become a ballet dancer, no matter what his father says. I have been practicing dance for many years and I had multiple occasions to see men dancing. They are very impressive and I think dance,
ReplyDeletelike every other leisure activity or job, should be acessible to both men and women.
Marina Hill.