monte Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 This topic has been brought up at parent meetings and we are getting new video people who will take the sound directly from the sound board "thingy" to avoid cring baby sounds but (sigh) our old performance tapes will still have WAH, WAH, WAH. Link to comment
monte Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 sorry bad spelling , I tried to edit but don't think it worked. Any way, crying, although cring(e) is what we do when we hear WAH on the tape Link to comment
BW Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 Well, monte, that is one way to get those "wah, wahs" out. Now, we just need a "real time" editor.;) Link to comment
soloistmom Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 When my son was three years old I brought him to see NYCBallet's Nutcracker. Clad in cowboy boots and eyes wide with wonder...he sat in amazement. At the end of the ballet I looked over at my now sleeping angel with a grin on his little face!!! I believe it was that very first ballet experience in his life that inspired him. He never stopped talking about how he was going to be a dancer someday!! We gave him trucks to play with and ponies to ride but he just wanted to dance!! He accomplished his dream from that day years ago...and grew into a soloist!!! I think that there are particular ballets that children should be encouraged to see...to experience. Link to comment
novamom Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 I have brought both of my children to the ballet, symphony, plays, from the ages of about 3 yrs. old. We have been told many times, that our children were charming, or polite, or, "Isn't this concert a little long for children so young"? when one of them drifted off to sleep. And certainly, they are not angles, and from time to time, probably annoyed someone or other. I always felt that it was important to give them these wonderfully enriching experiences. I agree with the comment that this is what makes adults who go to theater, ballet, etc. Now, my 16 yr old daughter dances and my 13 yr old son plays the violin. I believe children are happiest when they learn to meet the expectations of their parents. Parents are the responsible ones and should definitely take a child out if they cannot behave well. There was an earlier comment about parents bringing their children to the ballet instead of hiring a babysitter. The cost of a babysitter for the night might run $20.00. A bargin compared to $20.00-$70.00 per ticket for each child! Link to comment
dancermom2 Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Babysitting costs depends on where you live...in NYC it starts at $10 and hour! ;) Link to comment
novamom Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 WOW! But still, what is the cost of tickets to the ballet? Link to comment
dancermom2 Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Well...it depends on where you sit but can range from $40 to $100+. I forgot to add that you usually have to pay taxi fare for the babysitter to get back home again! We thought long and hard about whether we wanted to go out to any event or movie bacause we had to factor in the babysitting costs! Now we are free...I have a 16 year old daughter who can babysit for us so I just have to make sure she is available! I also think we have to expose our children to the arts so they can grow into adults who can appreciate ballet, classical music and Mattisse. But there is a time a place for everything and it so much depends on the maturity of the child. It's ok to bring them...but if they start to lose it you have to be willing to get up and leave. Link to comment
Ed Waffle Posted March 1, 2003 Share Posted March 1, 2003 Originally posted by dancermom2 . Right about when my daughter was about to come on stage they left. But they didn't only leave...he leaned over and told me "Thanks you B!@##, thanks for !@#$%^ our show so we have to leave...I'll be waiting for you after the show..." Wow--now that is an example of a tough house! We stopped going to The Nutcracker about a zillion years ago because the noise level in the auditorium was just unbearable--this was in Chicago, where it was done in conjunction with the Tribune Charities. What can be worse (if that's possible) than very young children at the ballet--at least the ones with irresponsible parents--are the slightly older children at the opera. A Hansel and Gretel matinee is one thing, but parents often bring their pre-teens to performances of (for example) Mozart's Magic Flute. But once the dragon is slain and Papageno has the lock put on his lips by the Three Ladies (all of which happens in the first several minutes after the overture) there isn't much to entertain a nine year old--or at least the ones I have been seated near. Children of singers, like dancers, though, are very well behaved. I was once at a midweek performance of La Traviata here in Motown and happened to be seated next to a father and daughter--the daughter seemed to be 8 or 9 years old. I was a bit surprised that anyone would bring such a young person to what is a very adult work--thematically it would be rated "R" by the MPAA. It turned out it was the husband and daughter of a member of the chorus who was singing Annina, Violetta's maid, her first solo role with the company Link to comment
Swanilda Posted March 6, 2003 Share Posted March 6, 2003 Once they reach a certain age, kids really can be fun audience members...we did some lecture demonstrations for our Nutcracker tour, and I was doing the Arabian pas de deux (with harem pants and a bra top), and one of the lifts was a sort of a swallow on the back of the guy's neck....one of the children asked "Does it hurt the guy when the girl in the bathing suit lays on his head?" Later on, one of the children asked what happened if a guy dropped his partner. Laughing, our cavalier said "Oh, you have to go to ballet boot camp and get in big trouble!" Our coach went on to explain that that rarely happens and the reasons for it. About 10 minutes later, another worried looking little boy raised his hand and said "When do they let you out of bootcamp? Can your mom and dad visit you there?" Once we realized what he was referring to, we about died laughing! Link to comment
Drew Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 One of the most delightful experiences I ever had sitting near a (talking) child was at a Wednesday Matinee of the Royal Ballet in Cinderella with Darcey Bussell no less! Of course, as soon as I entered the theater and saw it carpeted with children I pretty much gave up on a quiet performance. (And one mother sitting near me did end up leaving with a screaming child -- though she kept putting the moment off, presumably in the hope the child would settle down. I was irritated, but couldn't help feeling sympathetic as well.) Anyway...many other children remained, whispering and whiggling, and one comment I just loved, because it so exactly mirrored my own thoughts. The synopsis for this production specifies that Cinderella can't go to the ball because she doesn't have the right dress. Well, during Act I Bussell, wearing a plain grey skirt with a little apron over it, looked just lovely (of course) -- and I was even thinking just how extraordinarily lovely she made everything about her look, including her not at all raggedy Cinderella dress, when the little girl in back of me said in a fairly loud, protesting whisper "But I think her dress is pretty! Why can't she wear that to the ball?" I think she even made this point several different times, but I couldn't really fault her... Link to comment
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