Men in Tights. Let me start off by saying that I love men in tights. No, not the movie, men actually wearing tights. OK, I don't love love them, but I think you get the idea. In fact, I married one, my partner no less! I have been in ballet since I was very little and have been in the professional world since I was 17. For me, men in ballet is, well, very normal. I don't think anything of it. How could I? They are the ones who have been holding me up and making me look good the past 13 years. People hear the word ballet and think, girls in pretty tutus gliding effortlessly across the stage. If you re-examine your image, you will notice two feet scurrying along behind that seemingly floating girl. That ladies and gentlemen, is the man in tights. People don't realize, but male dancers are actually listed up there with top athletes as far as their conditioning. In fact, ballet has been ranked one of the most athletic sports around. You may think wimpy guy for wearing tights, but look closer at the actual amount of work that goes into what he does. We girls may look thin, but you try lifting 100lbs a couple hundred times a day not to mention doing some dancing of your own. Jumping is not easy. To get the height required takes a tremendous amount of leg strengthen. If you don't believe me, go out and shoot a few baskets and see how easy that slam dunk really is.


All this being said, I am currently having issues. I am the mother of an almost 2 year old. Most people that know my husband and I are dancers ask me the loaded question, "When will he start ballet?". I usually smile and say politely, "we will just wait and see." To think of not putting him in it feels treasonous to my whole being. However, the thought of subjecting him to the teasing from friends and classmates makes a good argument as well. Listening to parents in my playgroup, they will start their kids in soccer, t-ball, football, but not one of them suggests ballet for their son. I started thinking, if I were a non-dancer would I consider putting my son in ballet? The answer would probably be no. It is something little girls do. They dress up in pink with ridiculously frilly tutus and prance around a studio pretending to be butterflies. The thing is, I am not a regular mom, I am a dancer mom. I know the incredible benefits of ballet, even for the little ones. It teaches, discipline, coordination, musicality, flexibility, good posture, how to learn complex routines quickly and helps with lots of other sports and activities. It is also used to help children with learning disabilities and certain degrees of Autism. It is a great after school activity and managed to keep both me and my husband out of trouble. When you think about it, it is an ideal thing to put your child in. Most people, however, don't know all of this. They hear your son is in ballet and they look at you, as if to say, why? I hear from male dancers the amount of teasing they got in school and although you may teach them to ignore the negativity, words hurt, sometimes more than actions. Do I want my little boy to go through all of that, to constantly have to defend who he is? This is a hard thing to think about.



The truth is, he would probably love it. He loves music. I danced until I was 8 months pregnant, so he has literally been hearing piano music since conception. He is fascinated when he sees people dancing, even if it is just older kids at story time. He is the son of two dancers so he has some kind of inherited love of movement. However, I don't want to put him in it simply because that is what I did for a living. It seems too cliche. People will think he is there because of his mother and father. If I could somehow make a t-shirt listing all of the great benefits of ballet noted above and let him where that, maybe that might sway some people into thinking otherwise. Probably not. Besides he would have to grow a lot to wear a shirt capable of fitting all of that on it.



In the end, I think I will wait and see a bit what kind of kid he turns out to be. Maybe he will want to take it, maybe he will be great at it or maybe he will have two left feet and no sense of rhythm. Perhaps, he will look at me like I have two heads when I suggest it. All of this is OK with me. For people wondering if ballet is something to put their little boy in, I say YES! Give it a try. At the very least it is something different and even if it is something that doesn't work out, maybe he will willing take his wife to the ballet years later. In my opinion, exposure to the arts in never a bad thing. It may even open up your eyes to something different. My parents never had much exposure to the arts before I started dancing. Because of me and their involvement through the years, they now have season tickets to the local Symphony and make it a point to go see the new plays at the local theatre. Ballet is a wonderful thing to experience with a child, boy or girl. I think it is time we cast aside the gender based title we have put on ballet and just let little kids be little kids. After all, who wouldn't want to run around a studio and pretend they could fly.