I’m probably about as “pro” boys in dance classes as they come, but I’d love to hear what you have to say. I say if a boy is a dance enthusiast or even simply interested in taking a dance class, then by all means, sign him up. My oldest took a hip hop class when he was about four, and it really helped with his coordination, his ability to listen and follow direction, and his energy overload too. We loved it. I think ballet and tap would be great at teaching boys restraint and grace. Most the moms responding to hanksmom0207’s question didn’t see a problem with boys taking ballet and tap. In fact, several referenced ballet being used to help professional football players, which I’ve heard about before. I understand hanksmom0207’s worry though. Even though most of us claim “it’s no problem” to send a boy to ballet class, very few of us boy moms are actually doing it. Unless you live in a really progressive city, the ballet classes in your neighborhood probably have very few boys, if any, in the class. So in a way, you’d have to be willing to push the social norms to sign your son up. I’d have no problem doing this if my boys showed outward interest or talent in dance, but so far, we just sign up for sports because that’s what the other boys are doing. We just stick with the norm, which always leads me to questions like, “Do boys really not like ballet or do we not offer them ballet in any sort of way that would allow them to like it?” Have you signed your son up for ballet or tap class? Will you?
