Competitive gymnastics or ballet?

[Anonymous]

I think with any competitive sport at the high levels, there is plenty of dysfunction, hyper-competitiveness, stage parent characters. I'm was a competitive horse back rider at a high level as a child and young adult. The equivalent of 'stage parent' is a 'pony mom.' I think a pony mom and the who,e riding scene might give the dancing and gymnastics scene a run for their money .

That being said, there are great life lessons to be learned when doing anything at a high level!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read the book Astonish Me about behind the scenes in the ballet world and then you will pick gymnastics.

And if you read Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, you'd pick ballet. Of course, then you could read Gelsey Kirkland's autobiography...

[Anonymous]

I have. But for these moms, I would recommend viewing "First Position" (film) for an idea of how tought the ballet world is at the upper levels. But having done both ballet and gymnastics, I would go with ballet because the possibility of catastrophic injury (breaking neck while doing a backflip on the balance beam, etc) is so much greater in gymnastics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read the book Astonish Me about behind the scenes in the ballet world and then you will pick gymnastics.

The thing is, there are MANY types of experiences between the most beginning recreational studios and the most regimented pre professional programs in dance.

The vast majority of in between is very very positive for kids.

You can take the most extreme and most negative experience of ANY uouth sport and use it as the poster child against that sport. But that worst does not truly represent the sport as a whole.