Monday, November 23, 2015

our littlest :: first ballet class

blake went for his first ballet class during the dans festival footwork program at the esplanade theatre. as part of the annual dance festival, they organize outreach programs to introduce dance forms to everyday people. and how darling of them to include the littlest tots in their twinkletoes program. even though it was parent accompanied (my least preferred form of classes), it meant that blake got a taste of ballet without having to commit to a whole year of classes! 


the classes were held in the esplanade rehearsal studio which is my favorite dance studio! the natural light and high ceiling already makes anyone feel like a dancer! we were both super excited about the class as he'd been asking to dance ballet since a while back (more about that later)!


warming up before the other kiddos arrived! he was obviously a bit too comfortable and was showing off his spins to the pretty ballet jiejies!!

class started a little late with people streaming in and the young girls all slowly warming up to a new environment and teacher. im just going with girls cos blake was the only boy. and most other girls came in ballet costumes and slippers! super darling!

they did a few warm up exercises, introduced basic footwork in a child-friendly fun way and partnered up for gallops and skips. he had a lovely time all round. 


ok so ballet and boys. a little less common and if you peek into most ballet studios, 95% of the students are little pink girlies. but growing up dancing meant that i had quite a few dancing guy friends who are still great friends of mine and i don't think choosing ballet as an art form made them any less manly. dance is as athletic and challenging as any sport i know and i appreciate the discipline that dance instills in one's life. 

and since im most likely not ever going to have a little ballerina, i was pretty keen for blake to learn dance (of any sort). in school, ballet was an option and unfortunately taken on by girls only. i have asked and stood outside the studio a couple times and didn't think that it was the right place for him to start. so when he chose japanese over ballet at age 2, i let it go. he's been asking for ballet a bit more of late which got me super excited!! but at that age, you have to take what they say with a grain of salt. 

through this parent-child ballet class experience, i firmly believe that he is not ready for ballet. he doesn't have the attention span nor the interest in dance yet. and when he asked for ballet class, i think he meant he wanted to join his (girl)friends in ballet class. so, not his time yet! 

i'll definitely keep a look out for more opportunities like that to slowly introduce the arts to him. and the minute he is ready and serious about dance, i will not hesitate to put him in proper dance class! but till then, just spin your heart out and keep dancing like a goofball whenever, little blake! you're only young (and adorable) for this long!! 

xx

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