RobR Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 So, apart from Janet McNulty, this forum's membership must be predominantly from the South given that the MP for Rossendale and Darwen contends that Northerners prefer football to ballet https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-54908862 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Patronising and badly expressed. I understand, though, the fundamental point he's making that for many people football is what they really care about, and that should be given equal respect as e.g. ballet which we snooty southerners (allegedly) respect and care about... There are clearly, though, a few hybrids around (including me) who care very much about both football and ballet (though I suppose it's also true that my football comes from my northern heritage and ballet from my southern upbringing/residence.) Having said that, this Forum is so important to me at least partly because even here in the south, most people I know couldn't give a .... about ballet. 🙂 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I’m from Manchester, and I love both! The football came from my dad, the ballet from my mum. It’s a pity that the MP spoiled a valid point about saving smaller, historic football clubs such as Accrington Stanley by making a silly generalisation. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Without giving it much thought I can think of at least 5 more Northern based fans of ballet who are active on this forum. I found his remarks patronising and ill thought out even though he has a valid point about struggling non-premiere league football clubs. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I was born in the Midlands. Maybe that’s why I like both 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I'm from further south than most (Australia 🙃) and I'm not a football fan (any code) but I do love ballet. I used to enjoy a kick around when I was a teenager but I've never thought watching a bunch of blokes running around a muddy field kicking a ball as enjoyment. There is, of course, room for fans of both. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 (edited) I cannot believe that anyone could seriously say such a thing in this day and age! Get down to grass roots level and how many children do football and how many do ballet? There may be a weighting towards boys for the football and towards ballet for the girls, but across a whole community surely it would even out. Even though football clubs have done a great deal to attract families, it is still very much a male environment, you almost expect him to tell the womenfolk to make sure tea is on the table when they get home, and that they shouldn't worry their pretty little heads about such things as politic and economics. Please feel free to shoot me down in flames! Edited November 12, 2020 by Pas de Quatre insert missing "when" 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 7 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said: I cannot believe that anyone could seriously say such a thing in this day and age! Get down to grass roots level and how many children do football and how many do ballet? There may be a weighting towards boys for the football and towards ballet for the girls, but across a whole community surely it would even out. Even though football clubs have done a great deal to attract families, it is still very much a male environment, you almost expect him to tell the womenfolk to make sure tea is on the table they get home, and that they shouldn't worry their pretty little heads about such things as politic and economics. Please feel free to shoot me down in flames! You put it perfectly - I couldn’t have put it better myself 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest oncnp Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 (edited) Northern Ballet responds also on BBC news Entertainment and Arts page but the link is really long Edited November 12, 2020 by oncnp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 "I bloody love going up north to watch the Halle Orchestra play Opera North at 3pm on a Saturday. Especially now there's a lot less violins on the terraces." This and many others at https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2020/11/12/tory-mp-north-likes-football-south-likes-ballet-opera-is-to-southerners/ 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate_N Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 It's not either/or. Good friend of mine - a Southerner through & through - is an avid follower of non-League football, and nuts about opera. Although he's a stupid fool about ballet ... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 As an Arsenal supporter now living in Cumbria perhaps I should be doubly offended by Jake Berry’s crassness? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard LH Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 1 hour ago, JohnS said: As an Arsenal supporter now living in Cumbria perhaps I should be doubly offended by Jake Berry’s crassness? Spurs supporter and ballet lover here!🏐💃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DancingShoes Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 To be honest nothing would surprise me from our local MP, there was an article on the local news tonight about it, it's at about 10 minutes. North West Tonight, Evening News: 12/11/2020: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000pc6r via @bbciplayer Dd and friends are more impressed that they were on the BBC 😂😂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 My love of ballet was formed while growing up in Manchester. Hadn’t stepped foot in a football stadium til I did a tour of my husband’s team’s stadium (Spurs-quite something but seems to lack the sports science facilities of the ROH) a few weeks ago. Meanwhile he still has never been to a ballet. Obviously he should move up North and I should stay here in London. What will Berry come out with next? The North has no electricity or indoor toilets? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 That's right. I remember a bunch of Yorkshire men on the TV, sitting round comparing how awful things had been when they were young - living in cardboard boxes and suchlike. And don't get me started on living even further North - in Scotland!!!!!! Where's me loincloth? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Four Yorkshiremen - the original sketch This is the original from At Last the 1948 show. Later Monty Python made good use of it. There are various versions on Youtube! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Eh oop lads, what’s tha thinking knocking’t values of working class heroes like Jake Berry and posting fancy southern jargon about “perpetuat(ing) tropes” - whatever that means - when them of us from’t north already knows as how proper culture goes all’t way from black pudding to brass bands and as tha can see there’s no room for any ballet nonsense in that. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Well all I can say to that is - Tripe!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 5 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said: Well all I can say to that is - Tripe!!! As every good northerner would! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 After performances at the ROH and the Coliseum, I frequently find myself going home in a carriage packed with football supporters. There is very little difference between us. We have all spent the evening focused on our passions, have often been on emotional journeys, and have shouted and clapped for our teams. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Yes, I remember sitting on the train home once listening to a group of footie fans dissecting the match they'd been to, and thinking that there wasn't much difference at all between that and us discussing ballet performances. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) Have to say I was spitting feathers when I heard about this, talk about sweeping generalisations! I'm a notherner born and bred yet cannot bear football, rugby or cricket! That MP is just a philistine! As for snobbery I have never met any at the ballet, but I have made some really lovely friends through ballet and this forum. Edited November 14, 2020 by Don Q Fan 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 A decent read in the Yorkshire Post: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/no-northsouth-divide-when-it-comes-both-football-and-ballet-jayne-dowle-3036571 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 8 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said: A decent read in the Yorkshire Post: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/no-northsouth-divide-when-it-comes-both-football-and-ballet-jayne-dowle-3036571 More than decent! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 It's part of the unfortunate trend towards identitarian politics, putting people in outdated little boxes of geography, class, education, race, religion etc and trying to generalise their behaviour accordingly to try and align whole blocks of votes. We're all individuals (apart from that Life of Brian character who denied it), and our society is more open, mobile and heterogeneous than ever before. I grew up on a council estate but went to private school, I love art, poetry and ballet but have a karate black belt, I listen to both classical music and punk, grew up in a frankly racist environment but have a mixed race and culture family, just watched a livestream of Bharatanatyam and Orissi dance from the Nehru centre but will flop out in front of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here later, etc etc. What demographic box should I get in, Mr Berry? p.s. I absolutely draw the line at football though - bores the pants off me! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 And we saw just how well the concept of those "little boxes" played out in the recent US election ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akh Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 The late and very great Susan Robinson was passionate about both ballet and football. An inspirational teacher who made a massive contribution to the ballet world and is so missed. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Robbie Moore MP - speech Here is a Northerner who gets it! Fabulous speach in suppport of Dance studios, gyms and other small businesses. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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