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Enrollment in the Paris Opera Ballet School often entails a considerable amount of commitment from the child’s family, which may seem unreasonable given that it requires sacrifices from the whole family and the chances of success are quite slim. A survey among the Opera’s petits rats2 and their families helps explain this paradox by examining the reasons behind parental commitment. Their commitment is shaped by a system of justification and religious and moral motives that are based on specific social dispositions. It is therefore a social selection of families who are “in tune” with this type of education that underlies these commitment mechanisms.