Ballet dancers love soccer in England!

Mathias just called bragging to Steve that he and most of the male dancers from BRB are off to see the Arsenal vs. Aston Villa soccer game. They are all terribly excited, especially as they've had the day off. Why? All but three members of the company had meetings in order to get their work visas for the trip to the Virginia Arts Festivals in May. It is sort of funny to listen to him talk on and on about Premiership soccer. He and his friends are often divided on the teams for which they are rooting. They know all the players by name, and it sounds like a million football conversations I've heard. It is funny to me because I've never really known any of the dancers here in the USA to care very much about sports. In fact, art enthusiasts here seem to take offense to all the attention and money spent on football, basketball, baseball, etc. I've often been the only person in a visual arts group following my university's sporting teams. I do resent the hype sometimes...not that it isn't newsworthy but that the arts aren't considered as important in terms of publicity and exposure. I'm really happy, though, that in England, the dancing guys are so diversified as too appreciate other athletes and have fun at popular sports events.