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Dance - for a DS

15 replies

Ronaldo · 23/10/2012 11:21

I know the title sounds terribly sexist. DS is 6 ( August born) .

Traditionally boys are supposed to be sporting and active or stuck in fron t of the X box or something but my DS is very interested in music. He is learning piano. He taught himself to play a recorder in an afternoon when the neighbours girl was learning at school.

DS has expressed an interest in "Strictly Come Dancing" on TV. He likes the music I know. We dont do much in extra curricular and this is the first thing he has said he would like to do (other than piano which he has been plonking on since he could sit in front of it) . :)

I can recall doing "country dancing" at school at his age but not much else.

Question : Is he too young at just 6? I know girls start young (and yes, I am a bit sexist on this) .

(next problem may be finding him somewhere to go).

Thanks for any advice.

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DeWe · 23/10/2012 11:26

Ds (age 5yo) does ballet, but there are schools that do ballroom dancing. He'll be very popular Grin. Try searching for some dance schools in your area and I expect there'll be some that do ballroom.
Even if they have the age as older, they may well want to grab him while he's keen, so it's worth asking anyway if the age is a little too old.

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teacherwith2kids · 23/10/2012 16:45

At DD's (really quite serious) dance schools, all the classes from pre-school up are open to boys as well as girls, and they have beween 1 and 3 boys in all age groups. It's the classic ballet / tap / modern type dance school, it wouldn't teach ballroom so if that is the style he is interested in, you might want to look for that in particular.

I would say that 6 is a good age to start - he will probably join girls who have been dancing for a couple of years at 'baby ballet' or 'pre-school ballet' but it would still be very easy for him to start from scratch in an 'age appropriate' class. It becomes more difficult higher up the grades because a new dancer would have to join a 'younger' class because the teaching is progressive.

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PandaNot · 23/10/2012 18:34

My ds started dancing at 7, ballet, tap, modern and street. It's a good time to start and he'll soon catch up with any girls who've been doing it longer. Look for a dance school that tries hard to attract boys, sometimes they do boys scholarships.

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digerd · 23/10/2012 19:03

6 is the best age. And ballroom for a boy is wonderful, as he will be in demand by the girls. He will be partnering. If he would like to dance as a single, then ballet, tap and modern, he could try but is more demanding at 6. He may be very talented and artistic, and you must give him the chance to " explore" these areas of art in movement to music.

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Ronaldo · 24/10/2012 07:09

Thank you for the positive responses. I will look into suitable dance schools. It is ballroom he wants to do. I am not as opposed as I may sound. I can see that it could be a good social skill. I am more pro this than sport really. As DW pointsout,his hands are important forplaying the piano and rough sports may damage that. Not that DS showstoomuch interest. He likes baseball but not that much and we played tennis in the summer. Thanks for the replies. :)

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nickstmoritz · 25/10/2012 15:58

The Royal Ballet and Royal Academy run boys only workshops and sometimes these are outside London too. They are meant to be good. I think you will find details on their website. When he is 8 your DS could audition for professional productions such as pantos and they are always on the lookout for boys who can dance or sing. It is great fun. Try the summer dance workshops during "Kidsweek" in London during August. They are free and children get a free seat for the show with an adult. I think it is nice for boys to try out all sorts of activities especially when they are still quite young. They seem to love things like country dancing at school if they get the chance to do it.

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Bigwheel · 26/10/2012 20:14

Would he be interested in joining a stage school type class, they tend to do singing, acting and dance. Quite popular with the boys. I agree he would be very popular in ballroom dancing though.

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ledkr · 26/10/2012 20:22

My ds started ballet tap and jazz around 3 he went on to do some stuff with the royal ballet and also The Moscow one. He loved it and it kept him busy through his teen years he is a chef now but still does some teaching. Just chose a school and away you go.

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Dunlurking · 27/10/2012 07:52

I have a ds who has been dancing since he was 6. He was inspired by Billy Elliot the musical. You might be interested in this boy who was one of the first boys to play Billy on Broadway. He was an amazing pianist, ballroom dancer and ballet dancer before he got the role. You might enjoy hunting down some of his Youtube clips from when he was younger.

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BeckAndCall · 27/10/2012 09:42

Depending on where you are, ther are some really big ballroom dance schools around the country which my DDs compete against. All of them have boys dance competitively in 8s and above, but they do start to dance from 3 or so upwards.

You could just google for ballroom schools in your area. Or goggle 'supadance' which is the league my girls dance in.

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ZZZenAgain · 27/10/2012 09:54

if he wants to do ballroom dancing, I am sure he will be in great demand. A lot of parents sign their dds up for dancing classes but there are generally fewer boys. I would contact some schools. If you don't have a partner in mind for him, I am sure the schools will soon find someone. I don't think 6 would be too young but it has to be a place where the atmosphere suits him so you have to go in and do some trial lessons, observe some classes, get a feel for the instructors and the general friendliness of the place.

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2gorgeousboys · 11/11/2012 20:59

My 2 boys both do ballroom (and latin, classical and modern sequence). DS1 started at 9 and is now 12 and DS2 is 8 and has been dancing 12 months. They both compete regionally and nationally. The boys dancing school takes boys and girls from age 5 and they can compete from age 6. They boys are often in demand to partner in class and it has been really good for their social skills and confidence. I would definately recommend it for your DS.

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WitchCrafter · 08/12/2012 22:09

gorgeous-
what is the difference between the types of dances.

dd does flamenco- Spanish Dance Society Syllabus and I need to educate myself!

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AbbyR1973 · 16/12/2012 19:58

DS's age 3 and 5 both love music and dancing. There is a dance after school club that DS1 will start in the new term and am planning to send DS2 to pre-school ballet.after Christmas too.
I think it's good for all children boys or girls to have variation in what they do. DS1 will be starting violin after Christmas at his request, and both go to football once a week.
Apparently Rio Ferdinand is a very good ballet dancer.

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UniS · 09/01/2013 19:43

Boys DO dance. Not so many of them as girls, but there are some out there.

DS is 6 and started ballet at 2.5, switched to "creative dance" at 5 and at 6 switched again to beginners step and morris / country dance ( local traditional dance) . Starting at 6 is fine.


Hunt about for local classes in what ever dance styles you can find, ask which has other 6 yr old boys . of those try what ever DS will try. sadly 6 yr old girls are apt to think boys smell and refuse to hold hands with them, so a class with at least one other boy might be easier for a new boy. DS and his mate always partner up for morris/ country as the only 2 boys in the class.

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