KJL's Story
Here is KevLO's Biography (as sent by KJL to by E-mail)
Hello: My name is Kevin and I started ballet at the age of 26. I am now 31 years old and I take three to four classes a week! When I first started
ballet I took only a class a week. I started ballet because I played a lot of sports and I heard that it will help me ! After six months ofballet ,
I had really notice an improvement in my jumping and corridination ! I was
even more graceful and flexible in volleyball and basketball aftertaking
ballet. I was really surprise because I thought ballet would not do a
thing for me. At this time I like ballet more than any sports I had played
before taking ballet. I am HOOKED on ballet and there is NO turning back
for me. . It is one of the koolest things I have ever experience and noboby
can take that away from me. I will take ballet as long as I can! I just added a
jazz class too! I just wish that I started earlier. I am taking ballet
and jazz asa hobby and I am not planning on becoming a professional!
I was first introduced to ballet when I was in 6 grade. We had a school
field trip to see the Nutcracker at the San Francisco Ballet during the
Christmas season. After that show I wanted to take ballet so badly butI
was too scare too because of what my MALE friends would say if I took ballet.
(The sissy thing, girls only took ballet, wearing tights, etc.). I was
inmature like most boys at that age. As I recalled .....there was a guy in
six grade that took ballet because his mom made him take it. All the guys
at school made fun of him including me because I wanted to be one ofthe tough
guys ( being and acting MACHO man).Thinking back now...It was very mean of me
to tease him. Even in high school I want to take ballet , but the peer pressure
was even greater ! In high school our quarterback for the Varsity Football Team
took ballet because he thought it would help him in football and most of
the guys had respect for him because he was a JOCK! Then I thought it would
be a great opertunity take class with him but I still chickened out!
My whole life changed after getting my Driver's License at age 16. I
drove myself
to many of the dance studios located from San Francisco to San Jose , Calif. I
checked out many ballet classes during that time . I knew most of the
class schedules
and I knew the teachers's name and most of the Artistic Directors ofthe
dance studios.
Many years had passed by but I still haven't taken a single class. I
still like ballet so much but it was still a secret of mine.
Then when I was 26...I finally Took the PLUNGE. I signed up to take
ballet. I started
taking at a studio called Western ballet. I took there for like 6months
and then I left
the studio. Then I started to attend Dance Art Center ( not related to
Danceart.com)
because it was closer to home. When I started At Dance Art Center....I
took one ballet
class. There were two other guys taking ballet at that time. Now there
are like 10
guys in my ballet classes. I took one class for like three years and I
finally decided to
add another ballet class because I want to improve in ballet at afaster
rate. After
taking the 2 nd ballet class...I have seen myself improve a lot faster.
Then the Jazz
teacher has been begging me to take a beginning jazz class for likefour
years now.After adding my 2 nd ballet class I have also added a jazz class.
Ballet has really
helped me in jazz class a lot. I am doing great at jazz for the amountof
time I havetaken jazz . I will take ballet/jazz for me and not for others ! I
really don't care of
what other people may say! Before I took ballet , I thought to myself
that ballet was
easy and simple.....WRONG, what a rude awaking...It was very hard butfun!
When I started ballet ....I wore Black sweats. I did that for like 2
years and then my teacher asked me why don't I wear tights. I told her
because I felt funny in tights and she said " How Can I correct you ifI
can't see your errors? " Then she said that if you play
football, you wear pads and the right equiptment...right? Then I said
yes and then I
finally bought some black tights. At first I felt funny...but I got use
to it. I got
corrected on lots of things that my teacher overlooked because I wore
sweats. I would recommend wearing tights/ shorts from the beginning
because having a good foundation in
ballet will help you in the long run. It EVEN helps in all dance. Ihave
seen Jazz/Tapdancers that takes NO ballet and they look horrible.
I want to encourage more guys to take ballet / dance if they are
interested in it. Don't make the same mistakes as I did! Take theplunge
and go for it. I am now NOT ashame of telling people that I take ballet/jazz.
If my friends don't understand...then they are NOT my real friends. I
even told my family
and my mom thought it was "Kool" that I took ballet because there areNO
dancers inour family. I made so many friends at my dance studio. My mission in
life is to encourage more guys to take ballet/dance. I have gotten over
46 guys (as of January 10, 2000)to take ballet and most of them
are still taking it. As they say .....NO PAIN NO GAIN. I am always chatting in
the DanceArt chatroom. The address is www.danceart.com. I am in there as kjl.
Ps: This is a very true story! Ballet Is DA BOMB ! PERIOD .......
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