WWTBAM Bored

Of course, people let me know about this one.

Yesterday, in a quick "Pop News" story about Prince George and his school studies on Good Morning America, Lara Spencer over-enunciates that he is taking "ballet" and dismisses Prince William's statement that his son loves dancing. [First minute of video above] George Stephanopolous (likely misspelled), Amy Rohrbach, and some of the audience also have a good laugh at the very idea of the Prince studying ballet.

Now, on the grand scale of liberal hypocrisy, this is a low level misdemeanor. Of course, as far as I know, my son never faced any teasing or bullying because he was a danseur, and he is from a very conservative state.

I do find it funny that this story blew up at the same time that my son left the world of ballet behind for the much more masculine world of

Spoiler

musical theater!

Good for him! Don't tell anyone that J the 2 year old plays with the baby doll or pink Minnie Mouse phone.

For anyone who mocks boys in ballet, I got two words for them:

Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Graceful as a swan, strong as a bull.

And, as far as dancing itself, there's Astaire, Kelly and Hines.

So shut UP!

Ms. Spencer (whoever she is) has apologized. --Bob

Next thing you know, he'll be playing with unicorns....

lb13

Gene Kelly's widow, Patricia, chimes in (Kelly's birthday was August 23):

"Sadly, on August 22, 2019, 'Good Morning America' elected to run a disgraceful segment about Prince George and his ballet classes. That host Lara Spencer would mock a boy’s study of ballet in a nationally televised morning show and that her colleagues would join in her derision is both unacceptable and incomprehensible.

"Gene was a classically trained ballet dancer and believed that his training was essential to all that he did. He was schooled in Chicago by a woman named Berenice Holmes who had been the student of the great Russian dancer Adolph Bolm. Gene said that Holmes could perform many complicated turns better than a man, including a double tour en l’air, and that she instructed him to dance with great strength, particularly in his arms. He knew that ballet training gave him the long, beautiful line that he sought in his dancing and, later, in his choreography for the camera that led to some of the seminal films of our time, including 'On the Town'; 'An American in Paris'; 'Singin’ in the Rain'; 'Brigadoon.' "

In a Facebook comment, a friend of mine pointed out that Kelly was a direct heir to the traditions of the Ballets Russes through both Holmes and Adolph Bolm. Bolm danced with the Ballets Russes, as did Mikhail Mordkin, who trained Robert Alton, who in turn trained Kelly and cast him in his Broadway breakout hit "Pal Joey."

So, again, I say shut UP!!!

The sad thing is, had they dressed him in a tutu while taking him to ballet lessons, saying he wants to be a girl, they would have been full of praise.

Several ballet and Broadway dancers will be staging a ballet class outside of GMA on Monday morning. So, Spencer now will be personally talking with several dancers, including Travis Wall, according to sources. Checkmate, danseurs.

Meanwhile, my son received a callback for the role of Jack Kelly in his university's production of Newsies. Not bad for his first few days on campus. He has little to no expectations of being selected, as a Freshman, but it was a big boost to make the final 3.

Appa23 wrote:Several ballet and Broadway dancers will be staging a ballet class outside of GMA on Monday morning. So, Spencer now will be personally talking with several dancers, including Travis Wall, according to sources. Checkmate, danseurs.

Meanwhile, my son received a callback for the role of Jack Kelly in his university's production of Newsies. Not bad for his first few days on campus. He has little to no expectations of being selected, as a Freshman, but it was a big boost to make the final 3.

Christian Bales's role!

Bob Juch wrote:

Appa23 wrote:Several ballet and Broadway dancers will be staging a ballet class outside of GMA on Monday morning. So, Spencer now will be personally talking with several dancers, including Travis Wall, according to sources. Checkmate, danseurs.

Meanwhile, my son received a callback for the role of Jack Kelly in his university's production of Newsies. Not bad for his first few days on campus. He has little to no expectations of being selected, as a Freshman, but it was a big boost to make the final 3.

Christian Bales's role!

No, it was Christian Bale's.

Estonut wrote:

Bob Juch wrote:

Appa23 wrote:Several ballet and Broadway dancers will be staging a ballet class outside of GMA on Monday morning. So, Spencer now will be personally talking with several dancers, including Travis Wall, according to sources. Checkmate, danseurs.

Meanwhile, my son received a callback for the role of Jack Kelly in his university's production of Newsies. Not bad for his first few days on campus. He has little to no expectations of being selected, as a Freshman, but it was a big boost to make the final 3.

Christian Bales's role!

No, it was Christian Bale's.

Actually, it is spelled Jeremy Jordan.

So You Think You Can Dance judge and executive producer Nigel Lithgow: “That brings me to a point that something that happened this week with a lady on GMA. She was talking about Prince George doing ballet lessons, and her and her colleagues laughed at that. And I just want to say that that thoughtlessness has really affected a lot of young men that want to go into dance. My own grandson Leo, who’s four years old, goes to ballet lessons, and my heart skips a beat when I see how much enjoyment he takes out of it. And today we’re supposed to be living in a society that is now warming to inclusivity and acceptance, and little things like this just knocks us back a few years. Let us please accept the young men and women who want to go into dance to enrich their lives.”

And here’s SYTYCD choreographer Travis Wall’s response: