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.

The strange thing is that although men are not common in the ballet world today, when ballet first began back in the Renaissance period, men were the only ballet dancers. It would be some years before women were allowed to take part in the ballets. Men of that period would dress in tonnelets, a hoop-skirt that came to the knee, and would dance female roles.

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.

Bringing Boys Around to Ballet

In order to convince little boys to enroll in ballet classes, have them watch ballet movies such as Billy Elliot and Center Stage. You may even show them famous male ballet dancers and prove to them that ballet is not only for girls. These days, there are televisions shows like So You Think You Can Dance which show male ballet dancers. This may encourage him to join ballet if they see how beautiful the dance looks.

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.

Technorati Tags: ballet, classes, dancing, recital, washington dc