Chopsy Blog: Why don’t boys do ballet? This is why

My five year old boy goes to ballet classes. Being an incredibly active child from day one, I have pushed him into anything that might reasonably expend the constant energy, and quench the thirst for running and jumping all day long.

From the age of two, he went to a really good ballet class and stayed for a couple of years. But due to the location and time of the classes, we had to change schools. It took a while to find another one. Gone seems to be the days of the complete quality of lessons, teacher and discipline that I would expect from a ballet teacher and dance school. The high standards just don’t seem to be around. Not in Bristol anyway.

Eventually, I settled on a local Brislington branch of a Bristol based school. It did not meet the high standards I would expect from a ballet school, but sometimes you have to go with what you have.

As per expected, the classes are full of little girls in pink. There are no other boys in the ballet classes. This met with irritation and frustration from my son. Ballet is for girls. It’s all girly. I don’t want to go. He was eventually placated with me telling him that being the only boy meant he was special. I showed him some examples of strong male ballet – such as Matthew Bourne, where the male dancers really have something to get their teeth into.

I explained that he would get strong muscles which would help his jumping and scooting. And basically, don’t care what anyone else says.

He seems to be happy in his classes, if not a little caught up in his own world.

So I was livid when I received a letter containing some information about the forthcoming term. Is livid an over reaction? No I don’t bloody think so. I have blocked out most of the information because I don’t want to identify the dance school. But I have left the words that made me angry very clear to see.

Quite what is wrong with the world ‘child’ instead of girl or daughter I don’t know. But I feel along with the pink paper, that the school makes it totally clear why ballet is not for boys. It’s because they are excluded by accident and really, it is a form of discrimination.

It is disgraceful that in 2012, we still have this ridiculous gender divide which excludes children from activities and futures due to prejudices that continue today.

Boys can do ballet. And if you don’t want to include them, don’t expect them to pick up lumpy ballerinas.