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Mumsnet Discussions: Extra-curricular activities : Boys and ballet (17 messages)
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Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By UniS on Thu 11-Sep-08 23:40:34
Boys 2nd baby ballet class today and he met a small pink child of about 3 years old who declared " boys can't do ballet".
Any one else own a boy who "does" ballet?

At the mo hes wearing sports shorts and T shirt and borrowing shoes from ballet school, what do boys wear & how much are black ballet shoes in small sizes? most of the pink children were in leotards, new pink ballet shoes and pink net skirts. they are only 2 and 3 year olds.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By 1dilemma on Thu 11-Sep-08 23:49:47
my lo keeps saying 'I wish I went to ballet school' in a very wistful way.
I'm thinking he's watched a DVD/TV prog. somewhere maybe Angelina Ballerina and its gone to his head!!grin
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By frumpygrumpy on Thu 11-Sep-08 23:52:51
I have a ballet boy! Normally the ballet shoes are about the £7-12 mark. My boy does it in bare feet (he's 4). He adores it.
Contact the poster See this person's profile Contact mumsnet about this post By Peapodlovescuddles on Fri 12-Sep-08 00:02:33
I had a ballet boy, he also did rugby and karate but has always been much happier around girls. Now aged 15 he is quite the ladies man! His present gf did ballet with him for a while...
Contact the poster See this person's profile Contact mumsnet about this post By LargeGlassofRed on Fri 12-Sep-08 00:06:18
ds1 did ballet from 3 to 7,

he used to wear a white leotard and blue ballet shorts with white socks and black ballet shoes.

He looked sooooooo cute grin

Strapping nearly 11 year old now and mainly into football.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By islandofsodor on Fri 12-Sep-08 12:03:19
What boys wear depends on whether it is an RAD, ISTD or BBo school. Usually at that age it is black lycra shorts and tight fitting white T-shirt or leotard (short sleeved). Pink net skirts for the girls (voile and spotty?) sounds like RAD.

The cheapest place to get the clothes and shoes is from Dance Direct www.dancedirect.com however ballet5 shoes comeup very small and the first pair you are better going to a shop where they fit them. They are supposed to fit very close to the foot with not really any growing room, however the foot must not be squashed, you usually need a size larger than your normal shoe size.

Boys are so in demand in ballet, they get tp lift all those pretty girls and have you seen a male dancer's physique?!!!!!
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By UniS on Sat 13-Sep-08 20:00:30
Yep pink voile, some with spots some with out- that was the 3 year old pink kids.some of the younger ones just starting this term were in normal clothes like boy. Cycle shorts and Snug fit T shirt / vest we can do with no problem.
Think I'll carry on borrowing shoes for now, once we move he won't be able to go to that class and not sure whats available for his age in new location.
I'm not fussed about him doing ballet for years, just seemed like a nice activity he could do with one of his friends (girl). I was sooo pleased to see him joining in a group activity and following instructions.

good to know there are some other ballet boys out there.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By janinlondon on Fri 19-Sep-08 13:10:35
We have loads of ballet boys at our school - several have won dance scholarships and one is now professional. He comes back on Saturdays to help the little ones with their exercises. The Mums go into a mild flap whenever he appears (fans self frantically). Amazing how far a good role model goes to encourage other boys.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By UniS on Fri 19-Sep-08 19:50:45
have checked out ballet schools at our future "nearest town" and one of them says she has 3 bys in her youngest class. this is hopefull, may be one or two of them will still be there when he is old enough to join that class. ( 3 , current class starts from 2.5)
I think a bigger boy in new class would be a great help, he is certainly sticking close to his friend in his current class.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By madmummy4 on Sun 21-Sep-08 09:41:13
There are quite a few boys in my daughters ballet class, and the numbers seem to be increasing.They are Rad so its white leotards and navy shorts.The mums all use a local dance shop, who also sell online. I know they sell Freed dancewear who are make the official rad uniform.I haven't seen Freed much online to be honest except for dance sites that work from actual dance shops not a warehouse.I have looked at all these discount sites but to be honest I would prefer to deal with someone who knows what they are actually talking about.We are lucky we have several dance shops nearby so they have to keep their prices down to compete!!
You can checkout Freed on these sites
www.blushdance.co.uk[www.freedoflondon.com]]
www.thedancershop.co.uk
www.baillando.co.uk
However I know the mums at my daughters dance school have a problem finding boys dancewear so they tend to use the local danceshop as they have all the brochures etc and help the mums find what they are looking for.
Contact the poster See this person's profile Contact mumsnet about this post By tammybear on Sun 21-Sep-08 09:52:04
There's a boy started a few weeks back in my daughter's class. He's 4. He seems to be loving it
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By hatrick on Sun 21-Sep-08 09:53:14
My nephew does ballet with my dd2 [both are 3] he wears white shoes, white leotard and blue shorts and ballet socks] he loves dd3's uniform far more though and touches it wistfully grin
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By madmummy4 on Sun 21-Sep-08 09:56:54
There is about 7/8 little boys in my daughters dance class which I think is quite a lot.Its good to see boys dancing though.I was speaking to someone a while back whose daughter went for an audition for a hip hop pop video.There were about 400 at the audtion and the first thing they asked them all to do was put on their ballet shoes!!!That got rid of over half the dancers as they had never done ballet in their life.I was shocked but it just goes to show you if they only do one dance make it ballet.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By UniS on Thu 04-Dec-08 21:03:59
up-date on my ballet boy. He now has his own black ballet shoes. I bought them today ( great granny is giving him them for Christmas) after 2 months of borrowing pink cast offs from the school. His class don't have to wear uniform so he wears shorts & T shirt plus the stripy socks he likes. I'm now not sitting in on most classes as he concentrates better with out me watching.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By keresley on Wed 10-Dec-08 22:01:27
My ds has been doing ballet since he was 2 1/2. He is now 4. He really loves it and wears a white leotard with black leggings over the top.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By caroline94 on Fri 19-Dec-08 10:44:40
My son is 10 and the only boy unfortunately in his ballet class.The ballet teacher was very flexible about what he could wear.For the first year he wore shorts,ballet slippers and a tee shirt.This year after he'd attended his first few classes of the new ballet term he asked me if he could wear tights.He wears black footed tights with a white tee shirt and feels perfectly at home in tights.The girls in his class are all very supportivea as is the ballet teacher.
Contact the poster Contact mumsnet about this post By UniS on Mon 29-Dec-08 22:21:24
thanks for the stories of boys continueing to enjoy dance. DS will carry on with ballet for now, although he says he doesn;t want to go ( when we are on the bus on the way) he spends the rest of teh week " doing ballet" at people- jumping round on teh spot or runnning round waving his arms. So I guess he does like it.


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