focused on the film billy elliot, but of more general interest, from the village voice (roslyn sulcas):<BR> <A HREF="http://www.villagevoice.com:80/issues/0045/sulcas.shtml" TARGET=_blank>http://www.villagevoice.com:80/issues/0045/sulcas.shtml</A>

just one boy this time, in new zealand. his story, as he enters full-time training. (a slight piece, but i didn't know where else to put it):<BR> <A HREF="http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,501455a1934,FF.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,501455a1934,FF.html</A>

A story from Detroit:<P><B><A HREF="http://detnews.com/2000/holidayevents/0012/06/e02-157865.htm" TARGET=_blank>These party boys like to dance</B></A><BR>Billy Elliot, jump back. You've got competition in Metro Detroit.<BR>By Barbara Hoover, Detroit News<p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited December 09, 2000).]

<P>Seth Olsen<P><BR>'BALLET IS FROM MARS.' BY CELIA R. BAKER for THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE<P>Jonas Kåge AD of Ballet West gives us some history starting with the times when all the roles were played by men. If we could only get back to Paradise and think of all the money that would be saved on those short life shoes.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Ballet originated as a man's art, and despite George Balanchine's proclamation that "Ballet is Woman," Ballet West artistic director Jonas KŒge maintains that "a good balance between man and woman is necessary in ballet -- and in anything."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR> <A HREF="http://www.sltrib.com/02022001/friday/67842.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sltrib.com/02022001/friday/67842.htm</A>

Several years ago, the National Association of Sports Medicine did a study of sixty major international sports (and considered ballet to be one of them).<P>Based on their ratings of strength, flexibility, agility, endurance, and many other factors, they rated the top five to be: ballet, football, basketball, iceskating and hockey. Not necessarily in that order, but ballet was first.<P>A famous Greek philosopher has been quoted as saying: "he that is the best dancer, is the best warrior." And ballet itself was based to a certain extent on the training offered by the fencing masters of Europe.<P>In presenting many hundreds of educational programs in elementary schools around the country, I found that though the kids may have laughed when the dancers walked onstage in their tights, before they left, they had a new appreciation of the physical demands of the art.

Yes, yes, <I>(she said excitedly)</I> that's exactly why it's important to bring dance into the schools! (As horrible as it can be for the dancers, cold gyms, hard floors ) Children who do not ever see dance live will probably not attend dance as adults. Hence my objection to scrapping PE (see the PE thread) and giving dance as an alternative (as they are already working towards in the Vancouver area in Canada).

Here's one example, Marie:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Creative male dancers visit BYU</B><P>Alecia Burningham, The Daily Universe, Brigham Young U.<P><BR>(U-WIRE) PROVO, Utah -- A creative dance instructor is trying to prove that boys can dance. Becky Ellis, a creative dance instructor for 5 to 16-year-old-boys, gave a presentation to Brigham Young University Women entitled, "Boys Can Dance."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://news.excite.com/news/uw/010227/university-298" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

An inspiring story:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>The barre and beyond</B><P>Marina Brown, St. Petersburg Times, Florida<P>When local teen Daniel Ulbricht took up ballet, little did he think that his talent in dance would far outstrip his skill at karate. At 17, he is dancing solos with the New York City Ballet.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.sptimes.com/News/031101/Floridian/The_barre_and_beyond.shtml" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

Very much related to our discussion:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>The Battle of the Bulge <BR>Chatting with SF Ballet's Helgi Tomasson about men in tights</B><P>Ken Baker, SF Gate<P>"Is this the men's class?" a male dancer asks with a smirk. "Because I'm not sure I'm man enough." <P>He is tall and, like most of the 25 or so other San Francisco Ballet dancers stretching and prancing about the mirror-lined room, he's in his mid-20s. The dark-haired dancer also sports ass cheeks so muscular even a hard spank couldn't make them jiggle. By some people's definitions, he is all man. But to others -- including my Archie Bunker-esque dad and just about every guy I grew up with back in Buffalo, New York -- he is a pansy.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2001/07/27/helgi.DTL" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

Somewhat of an interesting article. The bulge thing is a bit bizarre, ***** envy I guess!

Early CriticalDance member Joe Carman updates us on the state of men in dance:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>In Modern Dance, Male Isn't the Weaker Sex Now<P>JOSEPH CARMAN, NY Times<P>AT the ballet, male stars often draw gasps from audiences and boost sales at the box office. But American modern dance, a genre spawned and nurtured by women over the last century, has also produced a proliferation of extraordinary male dancers in the last decade.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/arts/dance/14CARM.html target=_blank>More</a>

Eliot Feld makes a case for men in tights:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>O.K., Men, Get Into Tights And Line Up at the Barre<P>By ELIOT FELD, writing in the NY Times<P>IT is Brooklyn, Borough Park, 1954. I am playing punch ball in the school yard of P.S. 131 on 44th Street near Fort Hamilton Parkway, and my sleek, black, paper-thin attaché case, secretly housing my blue cotton tights, size small dance belt and ballet slippers, is leaning against the school building inconspicuously. I will it to be inconspicuous and practice makes it so. The ballgame over, I, with a gait belying its contents, coolly pick up my dance bag, alias attaché case, and catch the elevated West End train for Manhattan to take my ballet class at the School of American Ballet, at Madison and 59th Street, with Madame Tumkovsky.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/arts/dance/14FELD.html target=_blank>More</a>

Gary Smith - The Hamilton Spectator, 01.26.02:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Here's to all the dancing men in black tights</B><P>This is a story about men dancing. It's a story about guys who lay it on the line each time they put on tights. It's for all the boys who ran home from dance class pelted by the loud-mouthed insults of self-styled macho jerks. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><B>pour en savoir plus</B><P>

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Next Wave/Who's up and coming: Overachiever steps into a different life</B><P>Carol Norris, Cincinnati Enquirer<P>...<P>Days away from signing an agreement to attend West Point Academy during his senior year at Baton Rouge (La.) High, Mr. [Dwayne] Holliday decided to become a dancer. He says the decision both simplified and complicated his life. <P> “My mom disowned me,” the 23-year-old Cincinnati Ballet apprentice said recently over a glass of wine at a Clifton cafe. “She was one of 14 kids, had been a single mom with three kids and not a lot of money. West Point was a quarter-million dollar education waiting for me.”<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/02/28/tem_next_wave_whos_up.html target=_blank><B>More</B></a>

Interesting article. Cincinnati Ballet seems to be relatively well funded.<BR>