Let’s Hear It for the Boys - 8 Insights for Boys Who Dance
Written By: Barry Kerollis
It takes real courage for boys to step into a dance studio. Cultural and social barriers often stand in their way. Yet, those who challenge convention frequently gain unique advantages.
Because fewer boys pursue dance training, many miss out on the camaraderie, shared experience, and informal knowledge that comes from training alongside peers of the same gender.
To help bridge that gap, I’ve gathered these essential insights for any boy, teen, or young man embarking on their dance journey.
1. Choosing Dance Offers Great Privilege
While cultural perceptions of boys in dance can make the decision to enroll in classes challenging, those who do often receive unique advantages. Because male dance students are less common, schools frequently offer financial assistance to help them begin and continue their training. Additional opportunities may include featured casting, individualized coaching, and enhanced career prospects.
2. Try All the Styles
Just like ice cream, dance comes in a wide range of genres and styles. Where classical ballet may appeal to those who appreciate greater structure or classical music, street and contemporary forms often provide more space for personal expression accompanied by popular, current music. If one style doesn’t inspire you, there are dozens of others that may be a better fit.
Other styles to consider: Modern, Musical Theatre, Gaga, African, House, Breaking, Tap, Jazz Funk, heels, ballroom, and many more
3. Dance Belts
Every male dancer should wear a dance belt. This specialized undergarment, similar to athletic support wear, is essential for both appearance and safety.
Dance belts come in two styles: thong and full-bottom.
The thong style is most commonly used because it remains discreet under form-fitting clothing. It provides full frontal support and features a narrow strip of fabric that fits comfortably between the buttocks.
Full-bottom styles, which resemble briefs, are less common but can be a suitable starting option for those who are less comfortable wearing a thong.
When putting on a dance belt, it’s important to lift and position everything upward in the front. While this may feel unusual at first, it prevents discomfort and helps avoid testicular injury during movements that involve bringing the legs together.
4. Finding Community
While most boys develop wonderful friendships through dance, it can still feel lonely and isolating to be the only male student at a school. Fortunately, we live in a time when technology makes it easy to connect with others who share the same passion. Many of these online communities also host in-person events and intensives designed exclusively for boys, offering opportunities to learn together and build meaningful connections.
5. How to Be the Best Partner
Boys play an essential role in dance as partners. Every Juliet needs her Romeo, and Swan Lake wouldn’t exist without Prince Siegfried. Across ballet, Broadway, and beyond, partnering is a core responsibility for most male-identifying dancers. Supporting a partner, whether through lifts or turns, can feel intimidating, but understanding basic etiquette and mastering a few fundamentals can help build confidence and avoid awkward interactions.
First and foremost, consent is key. Discuss comfort levels around touch before working closely together. Always arrive prepared: wear deodorant, keep fingernails trimmed, and freshen your breath before class or rehearsal.
Next, practice sensing and transferring weight. If your partner feels heavy in your hands, they are likely off-balance; if they feel light, they’re on balance. For larger lifts, focus on timing, preparation, and precise hand placement to ensure comfort and coordination. Finally, strong partners know both their own choreography and their partner’s. Anticipating each other’s movements creates effortless, unified dancing.
6. Managing Cultural Views on Men Who Dance
Even with the strength, coordination, and athleticism dance demands, boys often face their greatest challenges outside the studio.
Persistent, inaccurate stereotypes about boys who dance can lead to bullying from peers and, even, adults. For many, this fear or experience of ridicule is the toughest hurdle to overcome. Misguided cultural perceptions remain one of the biggest barriers to getting, and keeping, boys in the studio.
Successful male dancers often develop thick skin alongside a deep passion for the art form. If bullying occurs, a strong support system is integral. Having allies in all settings can be a lifeline. While the dancer should guide any response, finding safe spaces in different environments with supportive teachers, community leaders, friends, and family can offer integral reassurance or intervention, if needed.
Support, however, should never come wrapped in toxic masculinity. Boys deserve the freedom to express themselves however they choose; masculine, feminine, or anywhere in between. Comparing dance to sports perceived as ultra-masculine or framing it as a way to meet girls reinforces harmful stereotypes, alienates those who don’t fit heteronormative expectations, and lays the groundwork for potentially dangerous behaviors down the line.
The best defense against ignorance is success: when you’re thriving and doing what you love, criticism fades into the background.
7. Finding Fun Dancewear
Girls aren’t the only ones who can have fun with dance wear. Long gone are the days when boys had to stick to black, grey, or white tights. Today, countless dancewear brands offer stylish tights, shorts, unitards, bikertards, and more.
Here are a few of my favorites:
8. Do It Your Way
Too often, people don’t follow their bliss in fear that others may ostracize them. But what many don’t realize is that a life in dance is a wonderful and unique experience, whether you choose to train for fun or make it a career.
If you have already made the decision to become a dancer, congratulations! Now, do it your way. Take whatever style makes your heart sing. If you want to dance in that talent show, go for it. If pointe shoes or heels are a curiosity, live your best life. If you want to enhance your prospects of scoring that lead in the high school musical, why not! If you want to improve coordination in other athletic activities, you are in the right place!
The amazing thing about dance is that it is much more than movement put to music. It teaches discipline, coordination, respect, stress and time management, fitness, culture, self-care, and so much more. Dance is physical expression at it’s best and everybody is welcome to participate in whatever capacity brings them joy!
