Jennifer Chastre examines the maturing relationship between fathers and their dancing sons.
In the mid-Saturday morning dance studio carpark craziness, the sound of teachers rallying their students is awkwardly interrupted by the unfamiliar sputterings of a Suzuki GSX-R veering into a minefield of glossy SUVs.
The regular dance crowd is caught off guard as they watch both riders disembark, wearing the mandatory black open-faced helmets and protective jackets. The pint-sized passenger excitedly hurdles off the rear of the bike to reveal his long blonde hair, black tights and red sneakers. As both rider and passenger approach the studio hand in hand, the young ballerinas quickly realise who it is.
It’s the new boy Jules … and his dad.
As the boy’s 40 year-old father Chris Chastre chats personably with another dance dad, his nine-year-old son eagerly readies himself while talking to the other girls (and boys) from the level 4 ballet class. “The other kids are really nice and the teachers make the classes fun,” says Jules, who has recently begun two ballet classes per week.
After Jules was selected for the Australian Ballet School’s Interstate Training Program this year, it became clear to his parents that they should incorporate more ballet into his dance training and Ransley Ballet and Dance Studio (Gold Coast) seemed to be the perfect facility. “Finding a dance school that encourages and promotes boys and also caters for their natural competitive nature is quite hard,” says Chastre.
The increasing number of boys taking part in ballet classes is hopefully a sign of things to come. Recent statistics from the Royal Academy of Dance (Australia) have shown an 11 per cent increase of boy’s representation in ballet exams in the 12 month period prior to 2014.
In spite of the increase in numbers of boys participating in ballet, many fathers view male dancers (especially ballet dancers) as effeminate and weak. There are, however, fathers like Chastre who support their son’s interests in dance. These dads understand that the aforementioned stereotypes are not representative the true identity of the male dancer. Chastre does nothing to deter Jules from his favourite weekly dance class, unashamedly hugs and kisses his son goodbye. “I just love watching him dance. Seeing him on stage brings a tear to my eye every time. How can any father not be moved by that?”...
See the full article in the current Oct/Nov issue of Dance Australia. Buy your copy now from your favourite retail outlet or download our free app to purchase a copy HERE.