Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

andrewcraig
Tony
Posts: 709
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:33 pm
Location: Melbourne Australia

Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by andrewcraig »

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/a ... 6595052110

There is a photo in addition to the story
------------------------------------------------
HERE'S nothing "girly" about ballet when you have to get up at 6.30am to do homework, leaving after-school hours free to do a 1 1/2 hour dance class, followed by stretching and conditioning sessions.

Inspired by movies such as Billy Elliot and reality TV shows like So You Think You Can Dance, 40 per cent of students at the Australian Ballet School are now boys.

Ethan Slocomb, 11, a student at the school, first started dancing as a three-year-old after attending his sister's concert.

Now he's about to perform professionally in the Australian Ballet's Don Quixote. "The kids at school think it's pretty cool and the teachers like it as well," he said.

Australian Ballet artistic director David McAllister said the higher number of male enrolments had led to higher standards.

"I guess even when I was auditioning for a job, if you had two legs and could put one foot in front of the other, you were pretty much in, but these days it's just as competitive for the men as it is for the women," he said.

The Australian Ballet School's Boys Day program gives nine to 14-year-olds a chance to learn about the life of a professional dancer. The Sydney Opera House will host Boys Day on April 13 and November 16.
User avatar
rob_hanson1979
George
Posts: 540
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:35 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by rob_hanson1979 »

That's pretty awesome. Glad to see the effect that Billy Elliot is having. Plus general attitudes in the world are changing. Hopefully the trend continues!
accessmenj
Mr Braithwaite
Posts: 770
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 5:10 am
Location: Williamstown, NJ

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by accessmenj »

Time for a Pacific Tour that starts in Australia.
kport
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 7205
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by kport »

accessmenj wrote:Time for a Pacific Tour that starts in Australia.
They should take it back to Oz to get the production up and ready. Then try other cities, like Perth and Adelade, that were missed out before. NZ definitely deserves a visit. I would love to see a Tour go to Hong Kong and Shanghai, too, where I am sure it will be overwhelmed with support. Japan goes without saying - BETM would create a reaction similar to Justin Beiber. Even the Vienna Choir boys get mobbed in Tokyo. Seoul would like to see it again, but I might suggest Pyongyang be given a miss.........unless Dennis Rodman is hired to be the Tour Wrangler! Return flying west, with stops in India, Dubai, South Africa, Gibraltar, then NYC for a triumphal return. I took a school choir on such a tour 20 years ago 'around the world' using a BA ticket that allowed eight stops for one price as long as you traveled west and ended where you began. It was (relatively) dirt cheap to fly that way. A scaled down set could be shipped by air cargo in air containers, with some props produced locally; or two sets could be sent by sea container (very cheap) so that one would be used while the other would be on its way to the next stop.

If each city had a major UK company sponsor the show there, it could be possible. Companies like Rio Tinto could support the SA leg; HSBC the Hong Kong leg; ; BP in Dubai etc.

'BETM - The Global Tour'. Perhaps the venture to Brazil is a means to 'test the waters'!
User avatar
rob_hanson1979
George
Posts: 540
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:35 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by rob_hanson1979 »

I love that idea. I would support it, and also like a job with them! :lol:
accessmenj
Mr Braithwaite
Posts: 770
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 5:10 am
Location: Williamstown, NJ

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by accessmenj »

Good list of cities. I would add Manila, Bangkok and Honolulu. The increased popularity of dance by boys in Australia would make it easier to find Billys and Michaels.

At the same time, Europe could support a tour. How great would a Pacific and European tour be, while BETM returns to Broadway, and America and Great Britain have a television show.
Just dreaming.
User avatar
rob_hanson1979
George
Posts: 540
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:35 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by rob_hanson1979 »

It's ok to dream! I think it's an awesome idea!
User avatar
porschesrule
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9368
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:02 am
Location: Rhode Island, USA

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by porschesrule »

Here's a follow-up story about the "Billy Elliot factor"'s impact on today's dance landscape in Australia, published in today's Sydney Morning Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/dan ... 2ik2n.html
kport
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 7205
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by kport »

Australia is a great country. One of its greatest cultural ambassadors is Dame Edna Everidge. And who can forget 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'? Even Monty Python's sketch 'No Pooftas!' was tongue-in-cheek - mostly!
User avatar
Brad
George
Posts: 520
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2009 3:06 pm
Location: Bathurst. NSW. Australia

Re: Australian Ballet School now 40% boys and rising

Post by Brad »

This whole shift in attitude has been an amazing thing down here in Oz. I live in a bit of an "enclosed" world, one that involves over 600 teenage boys in fact, but even in this capsule, there is a definate shift in the understanding of young males in relation to their peers' involvment in theatre and performance. Gender preference is definately not an issue to the majority of them. In fact, when it comes to perfomring in front of a 1000 people or more, the support and admiration given is amazing. BETM has changed a lot of attitudes but I do feel that it does not stand alone as the only factor, rather, it has coincided with a general community change in attitude and has provided impitus to a better collective understanding and appreciation of those that perform. Especially young males.
Cheers

Brad
Post Reply

Return to “Chat about Billy Elliot the Musical - Sydney & Melbourne (Australia)”