Boys and Ballet
Girls and ballerinas go hand-in-hand. Even in days of female superheroes, the ballerina dreams of 5 year old girls are still popular. To boys, a ballet dancer is a girl – someone in a pink tutu and ballet shoes.
Let us go back in history, ballet has been traced back in Renaissance Italy. At the start of early professional ballet, most of the dancers of ballet were men. They danced ballet but the catch is that they had to dress like women. They usually played female roles in ballet which required them to wear a tonnelet. A tonnelet is a knee-length hoopskirt that male ballet dancers used in their performances.
Why Ballet for Your Son?
You might think that enrolling your son in a ballet class is a good idea, but it’s likely your son won’t be quite so eager! You will see the advantages, he will see stereotypes and peer pressure disadvantages. Even as young boys the male of the species have a very strong gender role and wish to be thought of as being macho. Ballet classes don’t fit this image. So if you’re hoping to put your son into ballet, you’re going to have to be very convincing about what he’s going to get out of it!
In order to convince your son to join ballet classes, he must already have an interest towards the dance. If at an early age, your son had shown interest in dance or ballet, then you should enroll your son in ballet classes as early as possible. This will allow them to develop a liking for the activity without any outside influences. When they grow older and have more friends, they may get influenced by stereotypes that ballet is a girl thing. Suggesting that he take classes at a later age will further lessen the chances that your son will like the idea of ballet.
How to Convince Boys
Hollywood has been kind to parents who want their boys to at least try ballet class. With movies such as Billy Elliot and Center Stage showing not only that boys can do ballet, but also that they can be normal cool kids – they just enjoy dancing. “So You Think You Can Dance” on TV is a great way of showing your son that although his friends aren’t interested in dancing, there are plenty of other boys who are!
If you can find a ballet school, or even a class, that’s all boys then you’ll have an easier time convincing your child that he’s not the only boy in the world taking ballet class! He will be part of a group of boys who are all interested in learning how to ballet dance and will give him a network of friends who share his dance interest. Make sure you point out how strong ballet dancers are, and how the flexibility he learns at ballet can help him in other sports.
At first, it may be hard to convince your son to join ballet classes. Even if they agree to join ballet classes, chances are that he will be affected by what his friends will say about ballet. It is your responsibility as a parent to ensure that you won’t let these things get to your son. Make sure that they are having fun in this activity.
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