Archive-name: dance/ballet-modern-faq/part2
Posting-frequency: bimonthly
Last-modified: Sept. 9, 1996

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Part 2 of four parts
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    Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 by Thomas Parsons; all rights reserved.  This
    FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, BBS, or Web
    page, provided it is posted in its entirety, including this copyright
    statement.  This FAQ may not be distributed in part or in full for
    financial gain.  No portion of this FAQ may be included in commercial
    collections or compilations without express permission from the author.

================

Contents:

    3. Ballet, Modern Dance, and You
    3.1. When should I start taking ballet?
    3.2. When should I start taking modern dance?
    3.3. I'm in my early twenties; it it too late for me to start a
	    professional career in ballet?
    3.4. I'm 35 (or 45 or 55 or...) years old.  Is it ridiculous for me
	    to consider ballet classes?
    3.5. I'm thinking of returning to ballet after --- years; how should I
	    start?  Are there videos I can buy?
    3.6. Okay, I'm starting ballet.  What equipment do I need?
    3.7. I'm a guy!  Do I *have* to wear tights?
    3.8. Where can I buy dancewear?
    3.9. How can I make a tutu?
    3.10. How do I find/choose a school or teacher?
    3.11. How can I tell if a teacher is good?
    3.12. If the teacher makes me feel good, won't I become overconfident?
    3.13. I live in ----; where can I take classes?
    3.14. Where can I find out about Summer dance programs?
    3.15. I took my first class and I couldn't understand what was going on!
    3.16. I keep getting mixed up!
    3.17. What on earth is a "soo-soo"?
    3.18. What is "B-plus"?
    3.19. How can I learn to raise my leg over my shoulder, the way I see
	    other dancers doing?
    3.20. I'm 5'7" (or whatever) high.  Am I too tall for ballet?
    3.21. What is a career in dancing like?
    3.22. My daughter's gym classes are interfering with her ballet
	    training.  What can I do to make the school listen?

================

3. Ballet, Modern Dance, and You


3.1. When should I start taking ballet?

	The answer to that depends on how old you are.  Children must wait
until their bones are strong enough to stand the strain that dancing will
put on them.  Opinions differ as to exactly when that happens, and it
depends a great deal on the individual, but it seems to be somewhere
between ages six and nine.  Girls must not go up on pointe until the bones
of their feet are fully developed and the muscles in their legs and arches
are strong enough to bear the stress.  (Joan Lawson says ten; Gretchen
Warren says eleven.)  Younger children will often profit from special dance
classes, in which the emphasis is on rhythm, spatial sense, musical sense,
and placement.

	If you are older than that, the answer is, right away.  The sooner
you start, the better.  If you start in your teens, you may be able to
dance professionally, or you may not.  Igor Youskevitch didn't start until
he was 22, and he became a star; but he was Igor Youskevitch.  By that age,
most people can look forward to ballet only as a recreation.  (But it is a
*wonderful* recreation!)


3.2. When should I start taking modern dance?

	Opinions vary; some say, Right away; others say, After you've had
a year or two of ballet to lay a foundation.  A great deal depends on the
individual.  Ballet teaches a vocabulary of movement which has largely been
rejected by modern dance; and some people find that ballet inhibits the
kind of movement favored in modern dance.  But ballet is unparallelled for
strengthening your body and for teaching you to think of it as an instru-
ment of dance.  For many people, the ideal may be to take ballet and modern
concurrently, if that's feasible.


3.3. I'm in my early twenties; it it too late for me to start a
professional career in ballet?

	It's not impossible--it has been done before--but the odds are
against it.  Leigh Witchel offers more details:

    The average age of a woman starting ballet is between eight and eleven,
    of a man, often in his teens.  Later is not unheard of; Melissa Hayden
    began at 15, Igor Youskevitch at 22.  A word of warning, however:  As
    you grow older, developing flexibility is infinitely more difficult.
    If you do not have a natural facility, you will be fighting an uphill
    battle the whole way and may find the pain too great to be worth it.
    Also, for a woman, developing the ankle strength and articulation of
    the feet necessary for pointe work takes around five years, which adds
    another handicap.  Moreover, at the onset of training, you can really
    only take so many classes a week without risking injury.  So the roads
    of an amateur and professional do not diverge until at least a little
    way into training.  At that point, take a good look at what you are
    doing, your progress in relation to others, and how happy it is making
    you.  Are you ready to play a game of catch-up that may be sisyphean?
    It may be worth the struggle.

See also the following question.


3.4. I'm 35 (or 45 or 55 or...) years old.  Is it ridiculous for me to
consider ballet classes?

	This topic has come up repeatedly.  The answer is No.  We have a
number of dancers on a.a.b. who started in their thirties or later.  Many
of them hesitated at first, then plunged in.

	It would be ridiculous only if you were contemplating a career in
ballet at that age; most ballet dancers retire in their forties.  (Auguste
Bournonville [Question 4.7.2] choreographed roles for dancers in their six-
ties, however, and in his _Memoirs_ Casanova describes a dazzling bravura
performance by Louis Dupr'e, who was then sixty.)  But if you are 45 or
older, you are presumably not looking for a professional career.  The
consensus on a.a.b. is that if your body can still handle the exertion, you
can start at any age.  The King of Sweden was still playing tennis in his
nineties.  Ballet is tougher than tennis, but if you can handle it...why
not?  (Someone on the Net wrote, "Socrates learned to dance when he was 70
because he felt that an essential part of himself had been neglected."  And
one poster on this group was in a class with a World War II veteran who
started taking classes at the age of 72.)

	Much the same answer applies to taking modern dance, with increased
force.  Aging affects modern dancers much less than it does ballet dancers;
modern dancers will keep performing almost until they drop.

	One of the main problems for older dancers, particularly in ballet,
is getting the teacher to take you seriously, and the older you get, the
more acute this problem becomes.  Ballet is the most ageist of the arts,
after all.  But pursuing an art as a recreation doesn't preclude pursuing
it seriously and knocking yourself out to do the absolute best you can at
it.  Many teachers don't seem to realize this.  You should be getting cor-
rections the same as other, younger dancers.  You are paying for instruc-
tion, not just for space, an accompanist, and the balletic equivalent of a
square-dance caller.  Most teachers will judge your seriousness by how hard
you work in class and how regularly you come to class.  But if you are
working hard and still feel you aren't being taken seriously as a dancer,
complain.  Don't let them treat you as if you had accidentally doddered
into a ballet class on your way to the nearest Senior Center.

	Other observations on this topic from people on a.a.b. follow.
Note that many of these apply equally well to dancers starting in their
late teens or twenties (Question 3.3).

    1. Take classes as often as you can.  At the very start, it may not be
    a good idea to overdo it, but once your body is up to it, try for at
    least three classes a week.  Learning is much faster then.  Two people
    on this group report that the brain adapts physically in response to
    classes and that this adaptation progresses more rapidly if you take
    several classes per week.

    2. In older dancers--as well as with younger dancers--many of the big-
    gest problems are intellectual, not physical.  It takes a great deal of
    concentration to remember the steps that go into a given exercise.  The
    ability to remember how a combination goes does not generally come
    naturally; it must be learned.  Many newcomers are alarmed at the fact
    that their minds are not up to this; but it takes time for the mind to
    pick up this ability.  It also takes time for the various steps--and
    there are so many of them!--to get "into your muscles" so you can do
    them and link them together at short notice.

    3. Discouragement is the beginning dancer's worst enemy.  Many of us
    have been dismayed to discover that ballet is much more difficult than
    we would have expected.  It is particularly disheartening the first
    couple of times when you find that you just can't do some combination
    at all and have to stand on the side watching the others.  And even
    after that passes--which it will--you may still feel that you are the
    worst klutz in the class.  But (a) everybody else will be too worried
    about their own performance to notice you and (b) many on this group
    have reported that, when they had a moment to look around, they
    discovered that the others are doing no better than they were.

    4. As an older dancer you have the advantages of greater maturity,
    life experience, and motivation.  Older dancers tend to listen more
    carefully and to make a more serious effort to follow instructions.
    Indeed, one of the dangers is that you may try so hard that you forget
    that you are here to dance.  Occasionally it helps just to forget about
    all the technicalities (for a moment), loosen up, and just dance.

Finally, a word from Shannon:
    Personally I love teaching adults and would probably quit teaching if
    I couldn't have at least one class with them.  I always come away from
    the studio with a smile on my face.


3.5. I'm thinking of returning to ballet after -- years; how should I
start?  Are there videos I can buy?

	Your best bet is to look for a school (question 3.10), just as if
you were starting for the first time.  There's not much you can learn from
watching videotapes; the consensus of the group has been that your money is
much better spent on classes.  You may want to observe a class, if you can,
and see how it looks.  If you still remember enough (in your mind and your
muscles), you will quickly find your proper level, but take a beginners'
class when you first go back.


3.6. Okay, I'm starting ballet.  What equipment do I need?

	For males, tights, a T-shirt (or, optionally, a leotard), a dance
belt, and shoes.  For females, tights, a leotard, and shoes.  For either
sex, a "unitard" (a single garment combining tights and top) is also
acceptable.  Modern dancers tend to go barefoot and are less likely to wear
tights.

	Tights and T-shirt (tucked in) are the traditional wear for ballet
classes.  They offer an unobstructed view of the leg muscles all the way up
to the hip where turnout (Question 2.8) originates.  But these days, things
have become very casual, and in many schools dancers may be seen wearing
anything from bicycle shorts to warmup pants.  Studios are rarely air-
conditioned, because the muscles are more supple and flexible when warm,
and in hot weather bare legs are commonplace.  Unitards with legs cut off
in mid-thigh are popular.  When in doubt, ask your teacher or observe what
others in the class wear.

	The tights can be running tights of the kind you can get in most
sporting-goods stores; but hold out for solid colors.  Some teachers are
fussy about colors and others aren't; moreover, some schools have a dress
code in which color indicates your level in the school.  When in doubt,
ask your teacher before you buy.  Otherwise, black or navy blue is a safe
choice for men and black or pink is a safe choice for women.  Lycra tights
are much more forgiving in the matter of fit than all-nylon ones are.
Men's tights must not sag at the crotch: use suspenders, use a belt (draw
the tights up high and roll them over the belt), or wear a unitard.  The
sensible thing would be to wear a leotard over the tights to keep them
pulled up, but for some unfathomable reason only women wear leotards over
the tights; men who wear leotards wear them *under* the tights.  (This rule
has been frequently, and successfully, challenged, however.)  Footed tights
look better, but unfooted ones are less apt to sag; if you choose to wear a
unitard, you may prefer an unfooted one.

	A dance belt is the dancer's equivalent of an athletic supporter.
(Don't try to get by with a supporter; get the belt.)  It's a funny-looking
thing, designed to prevent elastic lines showing through the tights.  It
holds the male organs up against the abdomen, to avoid strains on the sup-
porting ligaments.  The wide fabric panel in front supports the virilia;
the narrow strap in the back fits between the buttocks to hold the belt in
place.  A dance belt takes some getting used to, but it is essential for
ballet training, since it affords the teacher an unobstructed view of the
muscles in the upper thigh.  NEVER try to dance without the belt; doing so
entails the risk of abdominal strains which can be very painful and may
take several days to subside.  (There's an interesting discussion of dance
belts in the alt.lycra FAQ.)

	The shoes are ordinary ballet shoes; pointe shoes come later on.
Fitting ballet shoes is a real art.  They should be tight but not painfully
so; if you can, get a teacher or an experienced dancer to check the fit.
Leather shoes tend to stretch with time; canvas ones tend to shrink if
washed.  They come to about $30 here in New York.  Not a bad price, IMHO,
and once they begin to wear out, they make *wonderful* house slippers.

	There is a narrow lace that runs around the entire top of the shoe;
you tighten this to hold the shoe on.  For many dancers' feet, this isn't
enough, so shoes normally come with a pair of elastic bands, which may be
used to help keep the shoe on.  The ends of the elastic are sewn onto the
top of the shoe at a point just below the ankle bone.  (Make sure the
stitches do not pass through that lace, or it may not move freely.)  Some
dancers attach the elastic in a single loop; others make two pieces that
cross over the foot.  If you're as clumsy at sewing as I am, you can secure
the elastic in the desired position with rubber cement.  This isn't strong
enough for actual wear, but it will hold the elastic in place while you're
sewing it.


3.7.  I'm a guy!  Do I *have* to wear tights?

	For some reason, many men have problems with this, especially
teenagers.  And yes, you probably have to.  They're worn for a reason, not
just to make you look ridiculous or like a sex object <grin>.  Your teacher
needs to be able to see how the muscles in your legs work, as explained
in the previous question.  Any garment that obscures these lines interferes
with proper instruction.

	I suppose you could get by wearing some of the alternatives men-
tioned in the previous question; but what's the matter with tights, anyway?
They're worn in the gym, by cyclists, by joggers, even on the ski slopes.
There may well be more men wearing tights to-day than at any previous time
in history.  So why worry about wearing them in ballet class?


3.8. Where can I buy dancewear?

	There are stores that specialize in dancewear.  Try the Yellow
Pages; look at the ads in a magazine like Dance Magazine; look in the files
`mailorder.txt' and `shoes.txt' in the Dancers' Archive; or consult the
dancewear FAQ, posted here, in the Archive, and in the *.answers groups.

	It's harder to find dancewear for men than for women, because the
market is smaller and many places do not stock clothing for men, or stock
only a very limited selection.  For men's tights, try sporting-goods
stores, and remember also that tights are unisex.  As long as you don't get
sheer pink tights with red spangles, who's going to know whether you're
wearing men's or women's?  In cases of absolute desperation, you can try
women's non-dance tights, available in any department store--but be warned
that they're usually very sheer and look funny on a man.  If you have to
resort to these, try a light color: the sheerness is not as obvious in that
case.  (And beware of that conspicuous gusset or panel between the legs on
many brands that marks them as women's tights.  That can be embarrassing
if you should do a cambr'e forward or a promenade en arabesque.  I've seen
some women's tights by Danskin that do not have the panel.)

	Buying shoes is troublesome, because it takes time to learn how to
tell when a shoe fits properly.  (It must fit like a glove.)  Salespeople
in dancewear stores may or may not know.  It may be a good idea to show the
shoes on your feet to your teacher and get him/her to pass on them.


3.9.  How can I make a tutu?

I know of two sources of information.  First, _Beginning Ballet_, by Joan
Lawson (London: A & C Black, New York: Theatre Arts, 1994, ISBN 0-87830-
056-2), has some simple designs for dance costumes, including a tutu.
Second, a booklet of instructions, complete with a pattern, is available
from
    Claudia Folts
    C/O The Ballet School of Charlotte
    8612 Monroe Road
    Charlotte, NC USA 28212
    (704) 536-0615


3.10. How do I find/choose a school or teacher?

	If you know any dancers, ask them.  If you don't, look in the
Yellow Pages under dance instruction.  You can also call the city's leading
dance company (if you have one) and ask whether they have a school.  And
you can post in this group.  If there are more than one studio, as there
will be in large cities, go and try them all out.  You will soon know when
you are being well taught (see the next question).

	Here are some of the things you should look for:

    Does the class conform to the traditional format--barre, _adage_, and
    allegro?  A place that offers something like ballet, jazz, and tap in
    a single class is not the place for you (unless there's no other choice
    where you live).  Anything but pure, undiluted ballet (or modern) is
    not for you.  Even if you plan eventually to dance in another
    tradition, ballet is the place to start.

    If you're an adult, do they offer a special introductory course for
    absolute beginners?  Such courses are rare, but priceless; go for one
    if it's offered.

    Are you made to feel that you are really *dancing*, right from the
    first exercises at the barre?  Is dance taught as movement or only as
    static poses?

    How much individual attention and correction do you get?  An experi-
    enced dancer can do with less, but a beginner needs a great deal.

    Does the teacher instruct you in the use of the head and arms, even
    at the barre, or does (s)he just let your arms hang down like limp
    spaghetti?  A great deal of what makes theatrical dance theatrical
    is the way the dancer uses his or her head and arms.  The audience
    probably notices these more than the feet.

    Does the teacher show a good working knowledge of anatomy, and does
    (s)he pass that knowledge on to you?

    How does the teacher look when (s)he moves?  Do you enjoy watching him/
    her move?  We learn in part by conscious or unconscious imitation; is
    your teacher someone you want to imitate?

    Do they take time to show you how to do an unfamiliar step?  Many
    teachers seem to expect you to pick a step up by watching the others;
    but watching the others is a bad habit.  It makes you rely on the
    others instead of developing concentration.

    What is the atmosphere?  Is it a warm, pleasant place to be?  A good
    teacher explains, challenges, and encourages students--and answers
    their questions--without being condescending or putting them down.  A
    good teacher gains the respect of his/her class by showing respect for
    them.

    How long is the class?  The standard is an hour and a half; some
    studios give you only an hour and a quarter, which is too rushed.
    Other things being equal, hold out for the full hour and a half.

    Do they have a live accompanist, or taped music?  Some excellent
    schools use tape, but a live accompanist is nearly always better.
    Do they have you dance to fine (classical) music?

	One final word:  Don't be put off by a ratty-looking studio.
Ballet schools are frequently hand-to-mouth operations, with little or no
money to spare for decor or even maintenance, and the best instruction I
ever had anywhere was in an atrociously ugly, shabby, and depressing plant.


3.11. How can I tell if a teacher is good?

	I don't know whether you can, at the very start, although if (s)he
makes class an unpleasant experience, (s)he's bad.  One way to find out is
to shop around if you can.  The guidelines in question 3.10 should help.
After you've tried three or four, you will know who's good, or good for
you, at any rate.  Part of the problem is that a good teacher for one
dancer may not be so for another.  The ideal teacher is the one who gives
you what you need just now.  Again, don't hesitate to *shop around*,
even if you feel satisfied with your current teacher.  Many people have
discovered wonderful teachers just because their regular teacher was, for
some reason, unavailable.


3.12. If the teacher makes me feel good, won't I become overconfident?

	Ballet is a difficult and exacting art, and for most of us progress
is slow.  Because of this, the danger isn't overconfidence but discourage-
ment.  Besides, people who feel good about themselves tend to perform
better at most things than people who don't.  If you are seriously worried
about this, try alternating classes with a "feel-good" teacher and a
fusser.  The feel-good teacher will keep you dancing and the fusser will
keep you honest.  (The ideal is a teacher who does both.)  In any case,
feeling good really comes from knowing you have given the class your best
effort (and the *best* feeling comes the day you discover you can do a step
or combination you never imagined you could do).


3.13. I live in ----; where can I take classes?

	Again, look in the yellow pages or ask around.  There is also a
listing in the back of Dance Magazine every month.  A project is in the
works to compile a directory of schools for the Dancers' Archive.  There's
no telling, at this point, when it will be ready or how comprehensive it
will be.  But you can also post that question to this group; that's one of
the things this group is for.

Another alternative, if you are looking for a school outside your own area,
is to use the nationwide Yellow Pages, available on CD-ROM at many public
libraries.  Look for Dance Instruction and copy the names.  You may be
able to get further information on schools from Dance/USA.  Bonnie Brooks
writes:
      Dance/USA has listings and Member Profiles on all of its member
      companies available (there is a cost for the Member Profiles), as
      well as local and regional dance service organizations.  Address
      and phone:
		Dance/USA
		1156 15th Street N.W. Suite 820
		Washington, DC	20005
		phone:	(202)833-1717
		fax:  (202)833-2686
		email:	danceusa@tmn.com
      If there are particular cities you're interested in, we can also look
      at our entire database of dance companies (including non-members) to
      give you information about dance activity in particular cities.  We
      don't have extensive information about non-members, but either way it
      would be a start.

	You can also consult colleges and universities in your area.  Dance
Magazine publishes an annual College Guide, usually announced in their
February or March issue.  The current (1996) price is $20.45 (US) including
postage and handling; write to 33 West 60th Street, 10th Floor, New York,
New York 10023 or call (212) 245-9050.


3.14. Where can I find out about Summer dance programs?

	You can ask in this group; but in addition Dance Magazine regularly
publishes a special section on Summer programs in their January issue.


3.15. I took my first class and I couldn't understand what was going on!

	This, I'm afraid, is all too typical.  One's very first ballet
class is apt to be an extremely discouraging experience.  In the first
place, ballet is *much* harder than most of us expect it to be.  Second,
you're asked to do things you don't know how to do (the terminology is all
strange, and most of it is in French), so you stand there like a dummy
while everybody else in the class goes bounding across the studio.

	The main problem is that the vast majority of ballet classes are
ongoing: they don't start out in September with rank beginners and turn out
some kind of finished product in June; they just go on and on and people
can walk in and begin any time.  The only exceptions to this are university
courses, where they *do* start with rank beginners in September.  And at
the David Howard Dance Center in New York they used occasionally to offer a
short course called "Introduction to Ballet" for those who knew nothing at
all.  This was the ideal way to start, because everybody in the class was
presumed to be an absolute beginner, but such courses are rare.

	Because of this, your classmates are all at different stages of
development, especially since you may stay a beginner for two or more years
and many of those supposed "beginners" with whom you're comparing yourself
have that much background behind them.  And just to delight you further, a
few experienced dancers, and even some professionals, will occasionally
show up for a beginners' class, maybe just to get an extra workout, and
they *really* make you feel like a klutz.

	Under those circumstances, it's no wonder that so many people try
one ballet class, think, "Oh, I'll never learn this!" and never come back
again.

	Most teachers will take a little extra care when an absolute
beginner shows up, but there isn't much they can do, because there simply
isn't time to stop and explain each new step for newcomers and to give them
all the correction they need.  So even with the best intentioned teachers,
it's mainly sink-or-swim.  In a sink-or-swim situation, the only thing you
can do is *persist*.  That's what sets apart those people you watch and
wonder at in your very first class: they were presented with the same
discouraging picture you're seeing, and they persisted.

If you are in a locale where you can shop around, you can try to find a
teacher who will take time to explain things for you, but remember that in
a large class it isn't practical to make everyone wait while you master the
step.  You are not supposed to watch the others while you dance, but at
this early stage nearly everyone does.  Certainly you should watch everyone
when you are not dancing yourself (for example, when you are waiting your
turn to do a combination).  And go to performances and watch the dancers.
You learn dancing through a combination of seeing, hearing, and doing.
Learning your way around a studio takes time, and with time--and sheer,
dogged persistence--it will come to you.

	In any case, bear in mind that the other people in the class will
*not*, repeat *NOT*, be laughing at you behind your back.  They've all been
there themselves.  You will be lost a good deal of the time for perhaps the
first six months, but gradually it all comes together.  Some outside read-
ing will help; look around in the library or in bookstores for introductory
texts that describe the various steps.  (Some of these are listed in the
bibliography, part 6.1.)  You will never learn to dance just by reading
about it, but when a step has flummoxed you in class, it can help to read a
description of it in the relative tranquility of your own home.  You might
also consider getting the ballet CD-ROM described in Question 2.14.


3.16. I keep getting mixed up!

	We all do; don't feel bad about it.  Getting mixed up and making
mistakes are to the dancer what wrong notes are to the musician or typos
to the writer.  And in a class, it's usually less important to do the right
thing than to do whatever you do the right way and on the music.  Even
professionals, dancers who have been doing this for years, get mixed up;
I've seen it happen.  If it can happen to the pros, there's no reason for
the rest of us to worry.


3.17. What on earth is a "soo-soo"?

	(It isn't practical to define all the steps in ballet here, but
there are a couple that a beginner may hear right off and wonder about.
For others, consult a dictionary; there are a couple listed in the
bibliography in part 6.1.)

	"Soo-soo" is another French term, actually _sus-sous_, or sometimes
_sous-sus_.  _Sus-sous_ means "over-under."  (Native speakers of English
have trouble with the u in that _sus_, so both syllables come out sounding
the same.)  It's a very tight fifth position in relev'e, one foot almost on
top of the other, which probably explains the term.

	In exercises at the barre, you frequently hear "soo-soo sootenoo."
This means ending the exercise and turning to the other side by rising
into a _sus-sous_ and then turning smoothly to the other side so you can
continue the exercise with the other hand on the barre.  A smooth turn is
a _soutenu_, "sustained," turn.


3.18. What is "B-plus"?

	B-plus is _crois'ee derri`ere_, usually used to describe the
position you take before doing a combination.  You stand in _crois'ee_ with
the working leg to the back, relaxed and slightly bent but ready to move
when the combination begins.  The term originated in the New York City
Ballet, and the "B" apparently stands for Balanchine.


3.19. How can I learn to raise my leg over my shoulder, the way I see other
dancers doing?

	The ability to do this is known as _extension_.  It is partly a
matter of training (and turnout) and partly a matter of physique.  Dancing
masters distinguish between two basic body types in dancers, known--in
French, inevitably--as _arqu'e_ and _jarret'e_.  This distinction was
first drawn by Noverre (question 4.6), around 1760.  The terminology is
misleading, because in French, _arqu'e_ means bowlegged and _jarret'e_
knock-kneed.  But although even dancers' legs are rarely perfectly
straight, the difference is actually functional:  An _arqu'e_ dancer is
tightly knit, doesn't have much extension, but is good at jumps, while a
_jarret'e_ dancer is loose-limbed, not as good at jumps, but has great
extension.  Noverre said it was a mistake to teach these two types of
dancer in exactly the same way.

	If you are _arqu'e_, you will probably never get your leg over your
head.  But we can all improve our extension by proper exercise.  Once you
have been taught stretching exercises in class, you can do them daily at
home, and you should.  You will be surprised at how much more extension you
have after a year or two.  Yoga exercises are also valuable; they stretch
muscles that even ballet class sometimes misses.

	For an excellent summary of stretching exercises, including a
reading list, see the stretching FAQ by Brad Appleton, posted at intervals
on the alt.arts.ballet newsgroup or available by anonymous FTP from
cs.huji.ac.il in the directory /pub/doc/faq/rec/martial.arts.  Note that
Brad's sources all recommend holding a stretch for *at least* fifteen
seconds, to overcome the "stretch reflex."  If they are right, then
stretches at the barre, as they are done in most ballet classes, are
too short; you should hold them longer when doing them at home.


3.20.  I'm 5'7" (or whatever) high.  Am I too tall for ballet?

This question comes up regularly.  For anybody who simply wants to take
ballet for health and recreation, the answer is No: there's no height
limit.  If you hope to dance professionally, I'm afraid there isn't any
satisfactory answer.  There have been reports on the group that women
dancers are getting higher and other reports that they are getting shorter;
in both cases it depends a good deal on the time frame the writer has in
mind.  Gretchen Warren's book, _Classical Ballet Technique_, says the ideal
range is 5'2" to 5'8".  (That's 157 to 173 cm.)  But in practice, what's
acceptable depends on the company and on the director (some companies
reportedly go in for tall dancers in general)--and on whether and how badly
they want you.


3.21. What is a career in dancing like?

	Rough.  It's demanding and highly competitive, especially for
women.  It is also psychologically stressful, because of the constant
pressure for perfection.  Salaries are better than they used to be, but
still not good.  Stagehands are paid better than dancers; so are typists.
Your time will not be your own, since you may be called for rehearsals at
any time, and your social life will suffer.  In ballet, your career will
be short, with poor prospects after retirement, and there is the ever-
present danger of injuries.  Merle Kessler said, "Football players, like
prostitutes, are in the business of ruining their bodies for the pleasure
of strangers."  The same could be said, in lesser degree, of dancers.  To
make a career in ballet, you have to be head over heels in love with it:
that, and talented and tough-minded--and lucky enough to be in the right
place at the right time.


3.22. My daughter's gym classes are interfering with her ballet training.
What can I do to make the school listen?

	A great deal depends on the form the gym class takes; don't panic
until you have found exactly what the gym classes entail and have discussed
the matter with your daughter's (or son's) teacher.

	As for what to do if it is indeed a serious problem, one poster on
this group replied as follows:

	    Primarily we have found it difficult to deal directly with PE
    teachers; rather, we have educated our doctor!  By finding numerous
    articles related to ballet biomechanics and running, we were able to
    show our physician that good running form contradicts good ballet
    form.  The doctor signed the school district exemption for us with the
    diagnosis "serious ballet student".  (Similar exemptions are given to
    sports athletes.)

	    If the PE teacher still fails to heed the physician's note,
    (which we have been told to expect in junior high here), it has been
    suggested to us to say to the principal "Under advice of counsel, we
    need the names of all who are involved in undermining our medical
    doctor's advice."  Get from him the names of the individuals that will
    appear on a legal suit, whether or not you intend to proceed, including
    the PE teachers and the principal, or anyone else who desires to take
    responsibility.

	    At this point, the principal will probably wake up.  While you
    have his attention, explain:
	1)  the number of years your child has devoted to training; explain
	    the commitment; iterate the time and expense you have
	    contributed to support the pursuit of her dream;
	2)  show the state's minimum PE requirement in minutes per week,
	    compared to the number of minutes per week your daughter trains
	    --usually the ballet training exceeds the PE requirements by
	    four- or five-to-one.
	3)  show the body of evidence that you presented to your physician,
	    along with the physician's exemption.
	4)  explain the damage that PE commonly inflicts on a serious ballet
	    student.
	5)  Impart the information that if your daughter does suffer
	    injury, you will request damages based on a full ballet career,
	    which has been denied her because of the school's inflexibility
	    and shortsighted stupidity.

    In these times, authorities prioritize matters by legal threats, thus
    attracting what they hope to avoid.

    Best of luck.  Write back if you are successful.

    --William Fitzgerald   wdfitzgrld@pplant.ucdavis.edu

================================
Continued in Part 3....
================================

-- 
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twp@panix.com                   |    No matter how cynical you get,
                                |    it's impossible to keep up.
http://www.panix.com/~twp       |              --Lily Tomlin
