 the male dancer
written by Bob at on 11.11. at 02:55:42 - as answer to: 3year old son in ballet by justagoodmommy Men are an important and necessary part of ballet --- always have been, always will be. There are not enough men in the profession in a large part because boys are so highly discouraged from trying it. Ballet is a wonderful, amazing artform, but our lack of men is a total embarassment to us all. If anyone gives you dirty looks, you can just tell them that men are an important and integral part of the art form. Who is going to dance with that father's daughter if he gets his way and chases away all the boys? I was the kid who just loved to dance at the age of 3. Over the years I tried other things in life but found I couldn't NOT dance. So here I am, I'm a professional (male) ballet dancer. Both my brothers also studied ballet --- but they eventually quit after a few years. I was the only one who HAD to do it. Anyway, my little brother came home one day and announced that he'd heard at school that ballet is not for boys, only for girls. My mother responded by buying a big poster of Mikhial Barishnikov and Leslie Browne in a scene from the movie "The Turning Point". Barishnikov is very macho and masculine in that poster. It sent the message that dancing very much IS something for boys (and men). We never discussed the picture, but talk about dancing being only for girls ceased. You might try finding a similar picture out there. Here is one, for example: http://www.ballettheatre.org/shows/show.jsp?showid=5 Also, PBS recently ran a special on ABT's four top male dancers --- "Born to be Wild". You can certainly find some great posters from it. Best of luck. I hope your son continues to dance and continues to love it! Answers to this message: 
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