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Move Over Girls, and Make Space for Ballet for Boys

DANCE is for EVERYONE!

When did people begin to dance? No one knows for sure, but dancing has been around for as long as there have been people!

Dancing provides people with a wonderful tool to express their emotions and thoughts. They can communicate to others what they are feeling and their state of mind. Dancing connect people. All around the world, there is dance. Over many centuries, every country and culture has developed typical dances of its own. They are part of peoples’ traditions.

Aside from these cultural dances, dance developed for performance.

People have always passed on their old dances from generation to generation and always enjoyed dancing them. In addition there were also modifications, changes, new steps and other dance moves. More dances evolved.

We will, in this series of articles, look at the different styles of dance and find out how you can get involved. We shall start with BALLET and ask the question ‘Is ballet for boys too?’

What is ballet?

Ballet was created in the courts of Italian princes about 500 years old. A royal dance school was later founded in France by Louis XIV in 1661.

Many positive benefits are associated with learning the art of ballet. Besides learning the traditional techniques of ballet, ballet lessons can also nurture a positive self image. Ballet teaches skill, grace, poise, self-discipline and confidence. If your dream is to become a dancer, you must practice a lot in order to master the many challenging poses and steps of ballet. You will begin by learning the rules and traditional techniques of ballet.

Why should I learn Ballet?

Ballet lessons have three major benefits. First of all, a dancer expands their vocabulary through learning the French names of the steps and hearing the musical terms. Secondly, they develop their musicality and rhythm through coordinating their bodies to the music. A third benefit is that memorising new steps and dances improves the memory of young ballet students.

So, Ballet makes you smart!

Dance offers a greater range of motion, coordination, endurance and strength than most other physical activities. If you have an interest in any kind of future in dance, you’ll need ballet because that’s where you learn the basics. But even if dance isn’t the ultimate goal, ballet lessons improve posture, flexibility, coordination, strength and grace. They also provide an opportunity for you to be active regardless of the weather outdoors.

So, Ballet makes you fit and strong! This IS looking promising.

Ballet lessons can also be good for a kid’s development by improving their social skills. It’s been suggested that ballet classes encourage kids to form new friendships. Dancers also get to interact with positive role models in their dance teachers. In ballet class, you need to follow directions closely and discipline yourself to not run around the space of the dance studio! Your confidence will grow as you develop new skills and perform in front of an audience. My dancers love to perform for their friends and family. After working hard all year, my students feel a sense of accomplishment while performing on stage in awesome costumes.

So, Ballet can make you a more confident person! What’s not to like?!

Is Ballet just for girls…? No, definitely not! More girls than boys do ballet, but the ballet that girls do is very different from ballet for men and boys. Male ballet dancers have to be strong and athletic. When scientists tested male ballet dancers against sportsmen, they found that the dancers were fitter and able to keep going for longer. Lots of sports clubs invite Ballet teachers in sometimes to give the players a lesson! It’s great for their balance, agility and core strength.

So, Ballet is great for boys too! Sign me up.

Naomi is an AISTD trained dance teacher, has been teaching since 1994. As well as a long career in dance schools, she has also been Head of Dance in a sixth form college. She runs a small, encouraging dance school offering classes for children and young adults in Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Linedancing, as well as Dancing Hands which uses songs and signing to introduce Ballet to pre-school dancers. The school is based in Bassingbourn and Litlington, on the border of South Cambridgeshire and North Hertfordshire, UK. Naomi has a particular love for working with children and young adults who have learning difficulties – dance is for everybody! Find out more on www.dance-matters.co.uk

Art & History

What is the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos)?

On 1st and 2nd of November, Mexico celebrates its Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). This is a festival that begins on 28th October and ends on a public holiday on 2nd November. During this time, Mexicans believe that the deceased have permission from God to visit friends and relatives on earth, and once again enjoy the pleasures of life. It isn’t seen as a time of sadness and mourning but as a celebration of life.

Where Does the Tradition Come From?

Image by Gwendal Uguen

The Aztecs believed that death was just a part of the circle of life and offered gifts to the goddess Mictecacihuatl (“Lady of the Dead”) for deceased children and adults. This tradition was incorporated into the Catholic celebration of All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day when the Spanish conquered the country. You might know All Saint’s Day by its other name – Halloween!

Language & Literature

Where Does the Word Candidate Come From?

Today is election day in UK, when the citizens of the country choose their new government. You can read all about how the elections work here. You wouldn’t think that dress codes of ancient Rome would affect the elections of today, but they do! Millie Slavidou explains.

Today is a good day to think about the word ‘candidate’. I rather like the etymology of this one.

It comes from Latin candidus, which is the past participle* of candidare, which meant ‘to make white, to make bright’.

Not because of whitewashing whatever the candidates might have said or done! It was because in ancient Rome candidates who wanted to be elected either to the Senate or any other office wore white robes.

If we take it one step further back, to a root meaning ‘white, shining’, we find that ‘candle’ is a cognate.**

*Past Particle

The past particle is the past form of the verb that can also be used as an adjective, like “a fallen tree”. In the case above, the adjective is like saying ‘whitened’ in English. Other examples of past particles are:

verb: bite
past particle: bitten
example: a bitten apple

verb: choose
past particle: chosen
example: aa chosen present

verb: crash
past particle: crashed
example: a crashed bicycle

**Cognates

A cognate is a distant relative, a word ultimately from the same root. Like a third cousin. Here are some examples of cognates.

Book is related to beech. Well, actually, book means beech! Both come from Germanic word meaning beech tree, Buche.

Germanic runes were originally inscribed on tablets made of beech wood. Modern German for book is Buch!

WOOL and FLANNEL are distant cognates. Today, fashion stores often describe plaid shirts as ‘flannel’, but it is actually a soft woven fabric, originally made of wool, but now often cotton or synthetic. You might have a flannel pyjamas, which are lovely and cosy in the winter!

The word wool is from a Proto Indo European root *wele meaning ‘wool’.

In Welsh, the word gwlanen, means ‘wool’ and is from the same root. The word flannel comes from the woollen vests that were made, presumably by Welsh traders from Welsh sheep – Gwlanen became fwlanen, and then flannel. So wool and flannel are distant cousins!

Today’s featured image is Marasmiellus candidus, a type of mushroom. You will often find the word ‘candidus’ used in botany or biology to describe something that is white, such as crocus candidus or the white woodpecker Melanerpes Candidus. There is even a white monkey called Propithecus candidus.