It went from mockery to shock, then it went viral.
Now former mayor Rahm Emmanuel put his foot on the ballet barre.
- Backshot: Last week when ABC television’s “Good Morning America” co-host Lara spencer snickered slyly about the ballet (“BAH-lay”) being part of the 6-year-old English child’s school curriculum Prince George, The Internet has done more than a pirouette.
It has become ballistic.
- Buckshot: It turned # Ballet4Boys into a call to arms after Spencer, who has since apologized, joked: “Prince william says George loves ballet, ”she said. “I have news for you, Prince William. We will see how long it lasts.
Enter Emanuel, a contributing commentator for ABC-TV, who started taking up ballet when he was in elementary school.
“My mother took me with my two brothers, Ari (a great talent agent) and Zeke (an oncologist and bioethicist) during ballet. I was in sixth grade.
Has Emanuel been teased by other children?
“Are you kidding? God help anyone who has had to face the formidable Marsha Emmanuel, because you might end up with a short ligament or two if someone made fun of their kids, ”he laughed.
“I must have liked it enough, because I did it later to improve my football game in high school and; incidentally, you must be with a lot of girls in ballet class.
“And when football is great Rosey Grier took off-season ballet to improve his game, I figured if he could do it, I could too.
Emanuel also took ballet lessons while working for Bill clinton on his presidential campaigns. “It’s not just exercise, but self-discipline and focus,” he said.
“The taboos are falling. Deleted. Whether it’s boys dancing ballet or girls becoming little league championship pitchers, stereotypes are now disappearing.
“It all comes down to good parenting – people raising their children by exposing them to growth in new directions.
“My hope out of all this mess is that people should learn that responsible parenting means exposing children to the arts as well as athletics,” he said.
Needles. . .
Wow! The American premiere of the British play “Out of Love”, presented at the Rivendell Theater until September 14, is terrific. Moving. A story of inseparable girlfriends since childhood, rings like a bell of truth in an English cemetery. … Ka-ching! Congratulations to the finance guru Tom lanctot after being appointed President and CEO of Catholic Investment Services (CIS), an investment management company that manages endowment and pension funds for various Catholic institutions. … Saturday birthdays: Chris Tucker, 48; Larry Fitzgerald, 36; and Richard Gere, 70. … Sunday birthdays: Zendaya, 23; Gloria Estefan, 62; and Dr Phil, 69.
