Billy Idiot

Again we are back from another summer in Quogue and back to school and I am back to my old shenanigans. Last year I found an all boys ballet class for S called Cobble Hill Ballet. I can say that S does not have the grace or natural talent of a ballet dancer, but he does have the energy, coordination and a mild interest in running around a room with a bunch of other boys. Ballet for five year olds, be they boys or girls, is really about pretending. The instructor is more likely to say "jump like a frog" than "Plié, Sauté". This works for S.

To further inspire S to greatness I decided that we should all watch Billy Elliot on family movie night. Both S and J were riveted by the movie and at the end of the night I was please when S told me he wanted to write about it in his summer writing journals. I should have seen it coming when he wrote "Tonight we watched Billy Idiot". Oh well.

Never one to take a hint and riding high from a year of ballet and thinking I would add tap to the mix this year, I signed S up for lessons at a different school where the dancing is taken a bit more seriously. Mark Morris is very popular in Brooklyn and the facilities are top notch. I figured that there would have to be other talented boys there. We showed up on the first day and S took a look at a room full of girls with tutus and positively refused to dance.

When I was young there was a boy in my class who had a part in the ABT production of The Nutcracker. He played a boy in the party scene. It was a huge deal even then and he invited the entire class to an open rehearsal. I always hoped that one of my boys would do the same. Alas those dreams died at the Mark Morris Dance School last week. C'est la vie!

The boys are back in town!

We are back from our incredible summer in Quogue. It was spent on the beach and with family and we loved every second of it. Upon arriving back in town I decided we should all go see the circus in Coney Island. I hate the circus, but I thought it would be a great opportunity to see a live show and continue the boys appreciation of "the business". I hate the circus since childhood. I hate the chaos of three rings, and clowns, and trapeze artists. The boys loved it though. If nothing else they are going to be great spectators of the arts. Every one has down staying in our seats and watching quietly, including Baby Q. We got front row seats, but I recommend getting the $10 seats as the tent is so small where you sit is not going to make a huge difference.

So no one got back to us on Baby Q's pictures. This may be a summer thing, so I am giving it a couple of weeks after Labor Day while putting another set of queries. This time I am including S and Q. J is the least interested and we are having hair issues with him as I try to decide how to grow out his unruly curls. Also J really needs to focus on becoming a better reader. So we have him on hold. Also unsure how to handle the fact that all the kids have tans.

This fall I am putting it all into gear. Starting with lessons. S is signed up for a Tap/Gymnastics class at The Little Gym, which I can't say that I recommend but seems like a stress free intro to dance for a five year old. Stepping it up we are also signed up for a boys only ballet class. These are very difficult to find. I will be looking into an acting class for him as well. As I mentioned J needs to up his reading skills. All this Hollywood business is really so we have a stand out essay for the admissions office at Princeton. But this year all three boys will be engaging in some form of music lesson. Still working on what might be appropriate for the tone deaf and rhythmless. No one said this was going to be easy.

The competition

I spoke to my good friend whose daughter, born three weeks before my son, is signed with Abrams Artists. She booked a job doing catalog work for Hannah Anderson. In fact they called her twice. The first time her daughter V, apparently didn't smile enough. They keep a bunch of back up babies for these situations. The second time she was supposed to be there for a 2:00 call and the photographer was delayed an hour and a half. By the time they got to her baby she was crying and sent home. So sadly there are no pictures of Baby V in the catalog. And sadly we still have heard nothing back on Baby Q's photos. It must be the summer.

Yesterday I took all three boys and the au pair to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Was Broadway every affordable??? The sticker shock of the day was too much for me to even enjoy it. Also what is with this running time of two and a half hours. Is Disney crazy? Both J and S sat through the entire performance. J kept referring to it afterwards as an opera. S loved the tap dancing number "Step in Time". I was reminded that Mary Poppins was never really my favorite, although I did love Dick Van Dyke. I spent the majority of the second act in the lounge area watching Baby Q crawl around the floor with the other kids who couldn't sit through the entire performance.

Both children in the musical, but especially the little girl, were amazing. The girl is Kelsey Fowler, and her bio is huge for an 11 year old. She is also signed with Abrams Artists.

I am thinking that I my still cough up another $500 to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway before it closes. The important thing here is that the kids be exposed to theater. Right?? Plus we spent the day together and had fun. Who am I kidding??? $500!!! That is obscene! Thank god it wasn't like the time I took them to Dinosaur Live at Madison Square Garden and they had all manner of dinosaur paraphernalia they were shoving down our throats.

Back from hiatus

We spent a week out in Manchester-by-the-Sea visiting with family. No rejection mail upon our arrival. My phone blew up in vacation and I have not been able to access my voicemail for a week. Very unprofessional of me.

We signed S up for a ballet, tap, gymnastics class at The Little Gym. S loves it. We went into the city to purchase a pair of tap shoes for him. He was the only little boy in the entire store, and I thought perhaps this dance for boys would work well on a college application some day. A mom friend of ours sent us a link about the ABT giving full scholarships to boys who do ballet.

School of American Ballet (MN / Year-round)

The famous School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center offers up to five years of ballet and gymnastic training free for boys, with continued scholarship opportunities. Parents of girls, however, must pay tuition fees that add up to thousands. Accepted by audition only, call (212) 769-6600 for September and May dates for 8- and 9-year-olds. From personal experience, I can tell you that taking this road is not an easy ride, although it is a privilege to study in the marble halls of Lincoln Center and be a member of this incredible school. Children are often cast in the lavish production of the Nutcracker in their first year, sometimes their first week, of study. Yet only a year or two later the child may be asked to leave because they do not show enough talent or lack the "right body type" to stay on the professional track. This is a school designed for the budding professional, and not just a dance school for a child who loves ballet!

Know that if S were ever to be performing in the Nutcracker my heart would burst forth from my chest with joy. The problem is while S loves his tap shoes and his dance class, he is still painfully shy. It is like he wants to perform for the world but just can not bring himself to do it. He also isn't great but I love to watch him flail around making noise and having fun.

As for The Little Gym dance class. It is more fun than serious, which is to be expected for a 4 1/2. I am looking for a more serious class should he express an interest in continuing. I am also seeing if I can convince J to take dance. He couldn't resist trying on S's tap shoes. He did more of a controlled Irish jig that I was very impressed with. I was also thinking it would be good to do music lessons with all of the boys.

Baby Q now has two little bottom teeth to call his own. So I have no issue resubmitting photos with teeth. He is like a whole new baby now after all.

The bitter taste of rejection

On Friday we got our very first rejection email. Thank you Product Models for this bitter little pill. I was mostly surprised by how quickly they came to this conclusion. No deliberating? No millions of other submissions that they need to weed through? I had kind of expected not to hear any thing from anyone for a while. Interestingly this was our only submission on email. All others were done the old fashioned way.

I am going to include the list of agencies I sent Baby Q's photo's to. This list was from an article that I read on line on Parents.com over two years ago. So the information is old. In fact I updated a few of the addresses when I sent my queries out.

Generations

20 West 20th Street

#1008

New York, NY 10011

CED

Youth Division

257 Park Avenue South

New York, NY 10010

Product

240 West 35th Street

#1001

New York, NY 10011

(online submission)

Abrams Artists Agency

275 Seventh Avenue

26th Floor

New York, NY 10001

Ford Models

111 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10003

Wilhelmina Kids

300 Park Avenue South

New York, NY 10010

Attn: Kids Division

Funny Face

381 Park Avenue South

Suite 821

New York, NY 10016

Below is the actual article which includes a list of some agencies in areas other than New York.

http://www.parents.com/parents-magazine/january/child-modeling/

Wait and See

Today I did it all. I wrote the query letters, found the addressed envelopes, checked all the addresses, stood in line at the post office and sent off the photos of Baby Q. Now we wait several weeks to see if anyone wants to represent him.

When J was a baby I went to a Mommy and Me luncheon about baby modeling and met an agent there. We spoke and she told me to send in his photos. I did and it was a done deal. We were sent on several "go-sees" which were more like cattle calls. After waiting for hours they would call our name and it J would be uncooperative. Still I went.

J was in a "music video" on Sesame Street, which we "booked" through the same Mommy and Me group. We also taped a few news reports where they needed babies. We had pictures done for free by a photographer who needed pictures for his portfolio. Those pictures were later sent by a friend to Ford Models who had us come in to meet with them.

In the end though J had sensory issues that made modeling all but impossible and I finally needed to go back to work. It was great fun for a while though.

For now though with Baby Q all we can do is wait and see. And enjoy the summer!

Where did the time go?

So on top of my children having no talent, and my husband being against this whole idea, I also struggle with my own inability to get any thing done. I finally managed to hand write the contact on all the photos of Bodhi and they have been busy collecting dust on the shelf.

Some where in the house are about seven envelopes that I addressed TWO years ago when I was last motivated to do this with J and S. *sigh* So I need to find those envelopes and make sure those addresses are still valid. Then hopefully I can mail those out. The path to fame is slow and tedious.

Some where there is mother who is so on top of things. Her children has a college savings account built on children's blood sweat and tears. Good for her. We have been busy enjoying summer. We spent a weekend on the North Fork and the Fourth of July in Newport. J just learned how to swim and S is obsessed with baseball. School is out and we have an insane amount of summer plans. If I was as good at stage mommying as I am at vacation planning we might be actually making some progress.