© Granada

At the time Daniel was prohibited from saying much about the programme and how he brought it all together. Well the prohibition ends soon and we thought it would be good if he answered readers own questions rather than have a straight interview with him. So just reply to this posting with your questions for Daniel.

The cutoff for questions will be the 20th December and the answers will appear in the following magazine

That's it - now add your questions....!

This question isn't about the programme per se, but about its influence....

I've just been seeing on the news about the joint initiative between ENB and QPR for training. Was this planned a long time ago, or did the success of the Men in Tights programme, with its lack of stigma about 'macho' men doing ballet, facilitate a group of footballers to agree to doing ballet class? A sort of 'if a group of Geordie shipyard workers can do it and not be stigmatised, just the opposite, actually, then a group of footballers can do it too' response?

Thanks for a very enjoyable show...thanks also go to all the performers who risked severe ribbing from their colleagues, but in the end swayed everyone.

Sim Dixon

Also, no one is rolling over on his feet - also nicely done.

I would be interested to know the thoughts of the students before they attempted this....why they attempted this.....and their conclusions after the experience.

And, do any intend to pursue the study of ballet/dance?

thank you!

The man on the left, third one back in red shorts, his knees seem to be approximately as turn out as his feet - this is good!

Also good, no one seems to be slouching, nicely held heads and open chests. This is difficult for beginners to learn.

Of the original volunteers, how many, do you think, did it for a joke to be talked about down the pub?

If so, how did you weed out the final team?

Ann.

One thing that struck me was that underneath the 'we're just having a laugh' attitude at least one of the men expressed a lifelong desire to dance, with a real conviction - not in the sense of having had this as an ambition, an unrealistic dream, but rather as being already in possession of an inner- understanding, an empathy with dance. It was as if he was saying he naturally interpreted the world around him partly in terms of dance.

That is how I saw it, anyway.

But anyway, it made me realise that there must be many adults (and especially men) who never had the desire to devote their *whole lives* to dance or the kind of natural physical ability that attracts the attention of teachers and yet would dance given half a chance.

It was a shame we did not see more of the men actually dancing during and around the time of the performance.

Do you know if any have continued to dance in any way?

Do you think a style of ballet could ever work as a company performing on the stage if developed by/for people starting so late?

I imagine such companies must exist somewhere -do you have any experience of any?

I am not suggesting they would reach the physical level of life-long proffesionals but they may bring *experiences* and attitudes (no pun intended!) to the stage that are not usual in the traditional world of ballet which I think could be very interesting.

In fact as our bodies reflect our own life history, to see people dance who have lived 'other lives' away from dance would be interesting in itself.

Any plans for a follow up series of any kind......?

ENB is always investigating ways of breaking down barriers and we have worked with various sports people over the years. Men in Tights was very much Daniel's idea but well in keeping with the Company's philosophy. We have in fact staged several one-off projects with football and rugby teams over the years, but have been looking for one to develop a longer term relationship with. And QPR were up for it and we could see genuine mutual benefit across the training front.

As another example of what we do, have you seen this Month's Men's Fitness featuring Thomas Edur??

So it's not just a PR stunt! And our Press Office says that any other ideas of this type are always welcome!

Certainly I always think of ENB as one of the most aware companies in terms of going off and getting their name up in new places and in new ways. Long may they do it and great that they were able to support Daniel Jones and Granada with his big idea. I hope he, and they, have more.

Anyway to get back to point for my posting... do post more questions for Daniel about the specifics of Men in Tights please!!