As you well know, I teach Ballet classes at the community center. Now that T Bear is 3, I thought he should come take my dance class for a session. I told Big D about my wish, and he said "No way, Boys don't do Ballet." I argued that it is more of a creative dance class than ballet, plus he is only three! After a pointless debate, we did not come to an agreement about T Bear and Ballet class.
T Bear knows very well that I leave him every Wednesday to teach dance. I wanted to see if he would be excited to go and take a dance class with me. I told him that he was going to be in my dance class in a few days. T Bear said "Oh, am I going to turn into a girl now?" I said "WHAT?" I was sure that I had not understood him correctly. He said again, "Am I turning into a girl now?" I said "No, boys can take dance classes too, not just girls. Boys are great dancers." T Bear said, "Oh, OK. I want to take soccer too." I immediately wondered if his father and been discussing things with him recently.
Since there was no resolution, I made the executive decision and took T Bear to ballet class on the first day of the session. It was so fun to see his eyes light up and his little body get so excited about being in a dance class. There was another little boy in the class as well. For me, as the teacher and now mother of a student, it was a little more difficult. The class on a whole had a few students with some problems to manage.
After 6 weeks, we had a 15 minute showcase for the parents to watch their little dancers. It was the worst showcase performance I have ever seen. The kids were all over the place. It was like they had never taken a dance class from me before. T Bear just stood there staring at everyone and then just started jumping during the dance. I was so embarrassed and slightly frustrated. The funny part is that so many parents came up and told me what a wonderful performance it was. They thought the kids did great, and listened so well to me. I was floored to say the least. And truly the most important part is that the kids enjoy dancing.
I think T Bear had a great time, and Big D was proud to watch him in the end. T Bear is signed up to take one more session with me, and then we will take a break from Ballet for awhile.
With love and grace,
-Ballerina Miss T
Wish I could have been there for the showcase!
ReplyDeleteRyan took Dance with Ava. It was 'creative dance' for toddlers - but he LOVED it, and they both still talk about their 'Dance Classes' all the time.
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