After that long post yesterday, I thought to myself: What does a boy actually need from a dance studio, and does a young male dancer need something different from a dance studio than a young female dancer? To the latter questions, I answer, “Most definitely, yes.”
In fact, in many cases boys who dance need specific things from a studio. It’s not that they are so different from their female counterparts, but they do have special needs – not that they are “special needs” kids, if you know what I mean! Anyway, keeping this post short today, here’s my list of what I would want in a perfect studio for the young male dancer:
- boys-only classes – for any and all disciplines but in particular for ballet
- partnering classes
- 50-50 ratio of male-female teachers
- performance opportunities
- competition opportunities (I’m not big on competition, but boys tend to have competitive natures.)
- stress on all disciplines of dance
- a full range of classes, including hip hop, break dancing, and tap (jazz, contemporary, lyrical, modern, ballet are assumed)
- acrobatics and tumbling classes
- a high percentage of male students (sadly, this only would constitute at a minimum 3 per class)
- a program that allows the boys time to pursue classes necessary for their training (acrobatics) or as per their interests (break dancing or hip hop)
- a program that supports them in being boys – dancing in a masculine way and doing masculine things (such as acrobatics, tumbling, competitions, break dancing, etc.)
If you find this studio, let me know. We can rent a house nearby, move our dancing’ boys in, and the mom’s can take turns being house mothers, drivers, and homework supervisors. Or we can ask the studio owners at least to set up a month-long summer intensive so we can all convene there once a year.
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