 the male dancer
written by Jan-Willem at on 21.01. at 17:21:49 - as answer to: MY SON by WORRIED FATHER at >My son would like to learn ballet. His mother was a dancer in her youth, and is very happy about our son's request. My concerns are about the notion that male dancers are mostly gay. > How much is that true? Of course there are quite some gay dancers. But it is also the case that being gay is much more easily expressed in an art field then for example in the office of a bank. > However, I think that because of the physical nature of dance there is a certain risk for both boys and girls to experience some unpleasant approaches especially when they are young and vulnerable. For example it is accepted that you as a dancer are being touched when a teacher wants to show you a correction in your posture. So, it might be normal that he touches your buttocks for example. The big question is of course does he touch you because of ... or for something else. The best way to deal with this is to be clear to your son what is normal behaviour and what not and to create an atmosphere in which he can be open to you if he has doubts about things that happen. Unwanted approaches - you will not be able to prevent happening that. Possible misabuse you can to a large extent prevent by giving information and by creating an opportunity to communicate - be it with you or with his mother. And as always: playing football and the military is also not without risk. Let it never be a reason not to do what someone really wants in life. > Having danced for over more than 15 years and working as a business director for a professional dance company to my opinion serious misabuse is quite rare and not so much an issue in the field. In general dancers tend to treat each other in an open and respectfull way. An amazing large part of them ends up being married with a girl. I donot want my son in that type of enviroment.When I read the comments by a so-called " balletboy" on this forum I get worried about this issue. I feel like that this is a forum for gay trolling by many of the comments that are made. > Unfortunately some gays seem to do quite some effort to make sure that they will never be socially accepted. Just like straight men can talk about women. Answers to this message:
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