Tips for Teaching Boys in Ballet
So many times, I’ve been asked this question: “But what if I have boys in my classes?”
Did you know that fairy tales aren’t just for girls? Sure, we tend to stereotype that princesses and fairies are for girls and cars and trains are for boys. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
We have plenty of princess dominated fairy tales here at Once Upon A Ballet, but we also have some where the main character isn’t a princess or even a girl—like Peter Pan and Peter and the Wolf. We have other fairy tales too like Snow White. While Show White is a princess and a girl, the dwarfs could be considered boys. In Alice in Wonderland, the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Caterpillar, and Cheshire Cat are all boys, so to speak. I think it’s interesting—let’s take Alice for example. Say we’re doing a free dance activity where I ask my students to dance as they think different characters would move. I wouldn’t think twice about having my girls pretend to dance as the White Rabbit, but I might feel strange having a boy in class dance as Alice. Why is that? Maybe because he is technically a rabbit?
And I’m not trying to spark any kind of gender debate. I think society as a whole is a bit sensitive when it comes to expressing and/or influencing gender. Of course, for most of us, we will almost always have ballet classes filled with all girls. But, in those cases when we might have a boy or two as well, here’s what I do.
Usually for the youngest age groups (like preschoolers, I ignore gender almost entirely. A lot of times, toddlers and preschoolers don’t even know the difference between gender, and if they do they are still figuring it out. I might change my language a little. Like I might have my students pretend to wear crowns instead of tiaras. Occasionally, we might dance birds or butterflies in a garden instead of fairies. But I keep much of my other role playing dance activities the same. Boys and girls alike dance as dwarfs and Snow White, for example.
When kids get a little older, though, (think elementary aged students) they do know there are differences in gender. Here, I take the child into account. Some boys will want to be treated exactly like everyone else. Others, will think it’s weird to roleplay as a princess. Here’s an example. We have a dance activity in our Sleeping Beauty lesson plans where students pretend to prick their finger on a spinning wheel then fall asleep. In a class of all girls, the teacher goes to each “sleeping” student to let her know the prince has kissed her and woken her up. When I’ve had a boy in class, I let him dance the sleeping dance. Then I woke him up first and let him choose which of his fellow classmates to wake next. (I didn’t make him kiss them or anything, of course.)
What do you think? Have you had a lot of experience teaching boys in ballet? Have you tried teaching them exactly the same as the girls in your class, or have you done anything differently?
Happy Dancing!
Ashley Hartford
Founder + Owner, Once Upon a Ballet
Want to know more about me?
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