Giving students, teachers, and parents an edge in dance education
It is shocking to discover that people can be much more open and accepting than we give them credit for. It is important for the young male dancer to keep an open mind and allow room for people to accept and admire his dance talent. Remember, not everyone will approve, nor does everyone have to. But there are many art supporters, family and friends who will accept your dance talent as a gift and encourage you to use it to the fullest.
Once I was chosen for the hip-hop dance team, I was embraced with open arms by my fellow dancers! The young ladies on the team loved having a male around and would often ask me to assist them with the unfamiliar hip-hop vocabulary they were being taught. As a young male, I felt that I had it made. I was naive and believed that all dance environments would be as accepting of male dancers. Boy was I wrong!
Yippee!! Not long ago, I had the “yippee!” moment of discovering a new dance blog. And within this blog, I found a great link to an audio interview with three male dancers in which they discussed their experiences growing up in dance, their thoughts on Billy Elliot, and more. I found the interview very encouraging. [...]
Well, my brother can’t, but Ariel Amir Lacey’s brother can and, in an act of sisterly love, she has created a line of t-shirts to show her support! This is a truly sweet gesture and these t-shirts could make great gifts for guys who dance (whether they’re your brother or not). The designs are artwork [...]
A while back I did a post entitled Encouraging Boys to Dance. It had a good response and I was even asked to submit an edited version for the PTA (National Parent Teacher Association) website. It is my firm belief that boys should be encouraged to dance by dance teachers and parents in particular. After [...]
What does a bully look like? We tend to picture a bully as a big, tough, boy that picks on those smaller or younger than himself. However, there has been a lot of discussion lately within educational circles about bullying and we are slowly learning that bullies come in many forms. Although dance can foster [...]
Dance is a physical and athletic activity requiring great skill, strength, and agility. Sounds like an ideal fit for energetic boys… so where are they?? Well, we know that public perception is difficult to change and, in general, the current perception is that dance is not a “manly” activity. For ballet and some other dance [...]
