Posh is as posh does

[Melody]

It's so instructive to read some of these polls. I had absolutely no idea that going to casinos was considered posh! Maybe it's less of a posh thing here than in Europe, but you can sort of see people looking down their noses at my husband when he says he's been to the local casino for the afternoon.

 

In contrast, ballet seems to have been labelled as elitist everywhere since forever. I've always assumed it's because ballet is perceived as being something that takes education and a bit of hard work to connect with, which isn't as much the case as non-balletomanes think.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Melody

[Pas de Quatre]

One of Jilly Coopers first non fiction books was called Class. It was a light hearted analysis of society at the time - 1980s. I was quite surprised to see she had categorised ballet as lower middle class!

[Geoff]

3 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said:

One of Jilly Coopers first non fiction books was called Class. It was a light hearted analysis of society at the time - 1980s. I was quite surprised to see she had categorised ballet as lower middle class!

 

That is not unusual, at least so far as two kinds of music lover are concerned. There are the only-go-to-Glyndebourne-and-ROH-dress-circle types (controversially identified by critic Anna Winter) who tend to look down their noses at ballet, despite often falling asleep during the shows they favour.

 

And the more "exquisite" and "knowledgeable" a musical friend is, the more I have sometimes had to fight to defend ballet as a fine art equivalent to their preferences for string quartets, harpsichord recitals and Monteverdi. This may have something to do with the injection of circus which arrived with the Italians in the 19th century.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2018 by Geoff

[Mary]

I have often come across that Geoff. Musicians can be quite narrow-minded sometimes and I have had several scornful/patronising responses to my love of ballet from them- also, from the drama people..... Some of them have hardly ever seen a ballet in their lives!

 

It reminds me to be more open-minded and go and see/hear things before I decide they are worthless!

[Vonrothbart]

On 19/02/2018 at 10:02, trog said:

I used to attend a ballet class in one of the most deprived (and depraved ) areas of Brum. Great class and several of the students went on to be professional ballet dancers. I've also done class in quite a posh area and in a very posh studio. When Elmhurst came to Brum, they moved into a very posh area.

 

It would be interesting to know where they got the funds from, as I've found it has cost a small fortune to only get as far as vocational school level. It's such a shame, but there must be a lot of very talented dancing children who's parents just can't afford the costs involved for them to progress. I wouldn't use the word posh, but it must help a child if their parents have plenty of coin.

[RuthE]

On ‎12‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 13:47, RuthE said:

I see arts organisations working really hard with outreach programmes and so on, but there's such a gap now between what state- and privately-educated children have access to as a matter of course.  If you don't expose most young children to "high art" at an age when they've yet to form preconceptions or prejudices about it, can you blame them if they grow up considering it to be something only those with more money do, even if they are in a position to spend exactly the same on the night out?

 

I thought about starting a new thread for this on the Opera board, but then realised it fit in pretty well here.

 

Mike Volpe from Opera Holland Park has launched this short film today about challenging the cultural perceptions of working-class teenagers with no prior experience of opera:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p05zxkfl/hip-hop-to-opera

 

Mike introduces the film here:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5SP9l5NCBswnym1v0fZmTtS/hip-hop-to-opera-expanding-horizons-through-music

[Nicola H]

On 25/02/2018 at 20:19, Vonrothbart said:

 

It would be interesting to know where they got the funds from, as I've found it has cost a small fortune to only get as far as vocational school level. It's such a shame, but there must be a lot of very talented dancing children who's parents just can't afford the costs involved for them to progress. I wouldn't use the word posh, but it must help a child if their parents have plenty of coin.

MDS  and DaDA make a big input to those good enough. 

For those not in vocational ( and for some in vocational ) there's a lot of trading of reception and cleaning duties for class cost credit.

[Vonrothbart]

"there's a lot of trading of reception and cleaning duties for class cost credit".

 

Not really sure what you mean, but even with funding help such as Mds and DaDa, a lot of parents without doubt, couldn't even dream of raising the balance needed. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by Vonrothbart
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[Nicola H]

On 3/10/2018 at 19:29, Vonrothbart said:

"there's a lot of trading of reception and cleaning duties for class cost credit".

 

Not really sure what you mean, but even with funding help such as Mds and DaDa, a lot of parents without doubt, couldn't even dream of raising the balance needed. 

with regard to  none  vocational  training  , how often   do you notice reception  duties  at local schools  ( where they have them - so usually the multi studio own building  types)  beign covered by older students ...  

I also recall  reference to this happening with  vocational students  -  they taking cleaning  or  evening / weekend  reception duties (e.g. for community classes) to earn money towards fees and/or living costs