Hunter and J.T. Raysor don’t spend endless hours at the batting cages working on their swing or in the gym practicing their jump shot; instead they are in the studio – the ballet studio, perfecting their piles and pirouettes.
Hunter, a 16-year-old, and 13-year-old J.T. are students and dancers at Cab Calloway School of the Arts. Hunter is the only boy dancer in the sophomore class and J.T. is the only boy in the middle school.
“There are thousands of girls that want to be dancers,” said Gayle Raysor, the boys’ mother. “There are only hundreds of boys that want to be dancers.”
Neither J.T. nor Hunter is bothered by the fact that they are the minority in the dance world or what others might think.
“I know at the end of the day, I’m the one in the classroom with 20 girls,” J.T. said.
Hunter has been dancing seriously for about two years. After discovering his passion for dance, he started studying with Delaware Dance Company (DDC).
“Ballet is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Hunter said. “I like everything about it.”
At Cab, students take exploratory arts classes, such as drama or dance, to help them determine what they should study.
“We had exploratories. They put me in dance,” Hunter said. “I didn’t want to go. I was standoffish.”
Gayle said Hunter reversed his attitude after he took his first ballet class.
“The first thing Hunter said before class is, ‘I hope they don’t make me put on a pair of tights and jump,’” Gayle said. “I picked him up that day and he said, ‘I love dance.’ He said, ‘I really want to study ballet’ and I said, ‘ok.’ I’m not going to force them in doing anything they don’t want to do.”
Hunter’s performances
2008 the prince’s companion and the dance master's assistant in Cinderella and a ballet doll and Chinese lead trio in the Nutcracker
2009 the Nutcracker Prince in the Nutcracker |
Hunter tried other activities, but nothing had sparked his interest like ballet.
“I took up lacrosse for one summer,” he said. “I didn’t really like it. I did marching band and practiced for the Nutcracker performance [at DDC] at the same time and I’ll never do that again. I lost interest in instrumental when I started dance. The feeling I get from it...that keeps me into it.”
J.T. also didn’t always know he wanted to dance.
“I was in computers and couldn’t do it,” he said. “I played basketball for two years, but didn’t like it anymore.”
Their dedication
Hunter takes four ballet classes, jazz, modern and Pilates. This month he will start a partnering class at DDC, where he attends 10 to 12 hours every week. He also takes a 90-minute class in school each day. He said the hard work and long hours doesn’t bother him, including the 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. summer intensive program hours.
To stay in shape, Hunter went to Atlantic City, N.J., this past summer for an 8-week intensive and a 5-week intensive in Charlotte, NC.
J.T. has taken ballet and modern classes DDC for the past year. He spends four hours a week at DDC in addition to his 90 minutes of class a day at school.
Future plans
After high school, Hunter wants to go to school for secondary education. He hopes to go to University of Delaware for two years, then make it into a professional dance company. His goal is to be a soloist or a principle (highest ranked) dancer at American Ballet Theatre (ABT) - hopefully in about 10 years.
J.T.’s plans after middle school are to continue dancing at Cab Calloway for high school.
“I want to dance in high school,” he said. “I hope to make Cab High School. I’m going to try to get directly into professionals (after high school) and get a degree online in physical therapy and specialize in dance. If I hurt myself I would know how to make myself better. One of my goals is to have a big house in North Carolina dancing with North Carolina Dance Theatre.”
| J.T.’s performances
2008 an adult party guest in the Nutcracker
2009 a ballet doll, the Gumdrop Prince and the Rat King in the Nutcracker.
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The boys enjoy meeting professional dancers and seeing the product of hard work.
“If you stay in it and you become a professional you can get where they are,” J.T. said.
Gayle said they get to see a day in the life of a professional.
“One of the professionals had a bad knee and they got to see that,” she said. “They get the benefit about learning what it’s all about.”
Joan Warburton-Phibbs, middle school dance teacher at Cab, said she thinks J.T.'s dedication and enthusiasm will pay off.
“It’s about finding yourself in movement,” Phibbs said. “He is amazing and very talented.”
Allyson Cohen-Sherlock, high school dance teacher at Cab and DDC, said Hunter is a hard-working and dedicated student.
“He is a very hard worker. He is determined to achieve and has improved so much,” Sherlock said. “I tell them the first thing you say in the morning is, ‘what can I do to be the best I can be today?’ At the end of the day, ‘did I do everything I can do to be the best I can be? I think he has what it takes to make it. You would never know he started two years ago.”
