Would my DS be bullied doing Irish dancing? Dancing mums advice needed only.

[MarkCrorigan]

My DS is only 7 MO. So bare with me. I know he's SUPER young.

He is only little but absolutely has a natural rhythm (more so than DH). He adores Riverdance and I am half Irish, half Scottish. He danced in beat from about 5 months (crazy as it sounds).

Obviously, I understand he could grow out of it, but I'm thinking once he's walking (he's crawling currently/standing on furniture) should I see how he goes doing the lessons?

There was a boy at my primary school who was bullied relentlessly for dancing. But I can feel it inside me that he has a natural talent for it. Or am I being crazy?

Any success stories would be FAB! The boy bullied went on to be very skilled in the industry even though he started under 1YO.

Any other mums just know they should just encourage dancing from an early age/what they did?

Ex Irish dancer here. My DS is an absolute natural, has danced since he could walk and has unbelievable rhythm.

Half heartedly attended classes and would have been a champion but chose rugby and drumming instead 🤷🏼‍♀️ every now and then belts out a dance just to show me how good he could have been 😂

Embrace it but don't force it.

And no, none of the Irish dancer boys I know have been bullied.

Irish dance mum here. Im not even gonna entertain the “he’s keen on it” at 7 months. Seriously. However the boys who dance at our school most of them keep it secret from their school peers.

I think your being a little premature as he's only 7 months but......
My next door neighbour started Irish dancing age about 6. He won several championships . (No idea about any bullying) he ended up, as a young adult, touring the world with Riverdance.

I'm in Ireland so maybe it's different but younger boys do dancing here, it's no big deal. Honestly though I think you are waaaay ahead of yourself. Sorry to burst your bubbme but that's how 7mth olds dance, you hold them up and they do a jig on your legs. My ds did it so did most babies I know. It even became a silly thing with our friends, we'd take a video of our babies doing this and set it to riverdance or trad music. Then we'd all make lame jokes about who was going to be the next Michael Flatley.

I do think a sense of rhythm can be innate and you are right to encourage this, whatever form it may take.

It's BEAR with me, unless we're all stripping naked! 😆

20+ years of being a dance mum here. Although I don't have a ds, I've known many dancing lads and they have all been an absolute joy. They do get bullied sometimes, but funnily enough, as soon as the bullies realise that the dancers are better than everyone else in school PE at the long jump, rugby training, the trampoline or whatever else, everyone shuts up.