Mumsnet Talk

my ds 3.3 has recently started a tap/ballet class where they alternate each week.....he loves it out of 10 kids there are 3 boys...i think it is really helping his co ordination and also to have an element of control whilst running around and his memory is being improved recalling steps etc....

but yet i am getting a lot of stick from other parents about how he shouldnt be doing it as he is a boy...

i will continue to let him pursue it as long as he wants to and shows an interest,,,,

what do other parents think would you let your son tap dance??

I would let mine.. he's 6 and desperate to join a dance class but there's not any near me I can get to at their times
he's also in to karate, rugby and swimming so don't think he'd take any stick about it being girlie...

I would let him, our dance school has several boy tappers, some of them very good indeed. One of our oldest students has recently been awarded the highest mark in the country at a festival. The girls seem to flock round the male dancers,although there is some moaning around show times as the boys always get the better parts

It's not unusual for boys to do dance classes these days is it?

what a load of shite - seriously OP tell them to fuck off and mind their own

adults who put their own pathetic views across like that don't deserve head space

if he's enjoying it, take him.

fwiw, DDs dance classes have more and more boys joining - it's awesome to see them all dancing together, somewhere where they can just enjoy the music and getting along without this arseholing gender separation gobshite

Yes, I would let my sons dance. My brother went to tap and modern classes from the age of 6 'till he left for the army at 16. There were only 2 boys in the class but he enjoyed himself and was never teased about it.

Well of course it is extremely dangerous as he will catch gay.

You aren't really posting this shit, are you?

Ds1 took ballet from 2.

Tell your pathetic friends to grow up and let your kids do what they want.

Ds took tap at around 5, alongside ballet. He dropped it after a term as he was finding it too hard (I assume it's a baby tap class - most have an age limit of 5 or 6 for a full tap class), but he carried on with ballet.

Dd1 is a competitive tapper. Ds1 wishes he's carried on with it now. He might give it another go.

Really? My ds2 did tap for a few years about 8 years ago. There were several boys in the class. The only comments I ever got from other parents were along the lines of how lovely, I wish I could persuade my ds to dance. He also loved to wear pink. He gave it up and carried on with football <sigh>. I much preferred dropping him at tap class than standing at the edge of a freezing pitch!

I think he gave up (about age 6) when he realised it was mainly girls - peer pressure in other words.

Ds has done ballet since he was 2yo, (he's now 5.6yo) and has just decided to give up because of comments from children. Parents think it's great.

he's going to try tap dancing next term instead, but thinks he might go back to ballet at some point.

Such a shame about the peer pressure influence. If it were Break Dance/Street Jazz, at his age a boy would be admired by his peers.
Of course you should encourage him to persue all his interests , and he may be the next Michael Baryshnikov famous ballet dancer who has a daughter by a famous actress, Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly even.

Good Luck to him.

I went to an arts high school and there were a few male dancers. A couple of them were gay, but the straight ones loved hanging out with all the girls in skin tight outfits .

bollocks is it peer pressure at that age, it comes from the parents

if your DC gave out that crap, wouldn't you teach them otherwise? of course you would, it's the ones who aren't corrected that are spouting it.

Damemargot I can assure you it was partly down to peer pressure that my ds2 gave up. He started dance classes in reception, specifically tap in year 1 and gave up at end of year 2 - so he was just 7 as a young one in the year. By then he was the only boy left and this bothered him. Perhaps not peer pressure as such, but the lack of any other boys dancing.

seriously? there are ADULTS who think like this????

i could maybe understand other 6yr old boys maybe thinking like this but i can't believe other adults would say that boys shouldn't be allowed to dance

give over, kids don't think like this 'naturally'

it stems from adults

DameMargot - I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you suggesting we influenced ds2 to stop dancing? He saw other boys leave and that put him off.

Of course if other boys had said to him - don't go dancing it's for girls - well yes that would stem from the parents. As I said it wasn't strictly peer pressure as he just didn't want to be the only boy in the dance class.

Or perhaps your comment wasn't aimed at me?

of course i was talking about the other kids' parents ya dafty

Adam garcia nuff said.

DameMargot - sorry, stressy evening with the dc and am being over sensitive

There are two boys in DD1's ballet class.

One has played Billy Elliot in the West End.

I bet his mother's glad she didn't discourage him!

(I see the other one regularly at DS's rugby club. I often wonder which one he prefers.)

You are lucky to find a tap class, like hens teeth round here they are tsk.

Stick with it. boys that dance have a hard time from a few idiots. but they seem to do pretty well in primary school PE and if they still dance as teens the girls love it.

Obviously I am biased... my DS started dance age 2.5 and is still dancing age 6.9 he has only just started tap/ step class ( was doing ballet and creative dance) but enjoys it lots.

DS has had the odd stupid comment from classmates, but generally I can "hear " the bigoted dad being parroted when DS tells me what they said.

My ds is 9 and has passed primary and grade one tap and ballet with honours. He loves both classes. He is the only boy, he used to go to an all boys class but we moved and there isn't all boys here, he doesn't care.

He also does hip hop, breaking and street and recently auditioned for got to dance.

Tell them to mind their own business, in our old school, ds was with the older teens and young men and their shows were awesome