Obviously I am a HUGE FAN of ballroom dance. I made a career out of it after all. But why, you may ask, would I tell you to sign up your five or ten year old son for ballroom dance lessons?

SIMPLE.

Ballroom dance teaches MEN TO BE REAL MEN! Read on for my logic below :).

I. CONFIDENCE:

In a lot of ways, ballroom dance is a metaphor for life. Learning confidence at a young age will help your son at every age with school, relationships, business choices, personal decisions and more. Learning to lead a lady at a young age brings confidence for relationships later on in life. And we all know, ladies love it when a man knows how to lead (YES both in dance and in life).

II. A SENSE OF MUSICALITY AND MOTION:

Music is good for the soul. Learning to appreciate the various beats and disciplines, styles and rhythms is all part of ballroom dancing. Adding movement to the right beat while leading your partner will only further your appreciation of music and musicality.

III. MULTITASKING:

SO we all know men are not the greatest at multitasking LOL. Fortunately for you men out there, we have ballroom dance. 🙂

Ballroom dance teaches men how to coordinate their movements with the beat, to lead the lady, to watch out for others they may bump into on the dance floor, and to remember to smile, move their arms, hands and legs in different directions all at the same time. What better way to learn multitasking than to start dancing at a young age?

IV. RESPECT FOR THE OPPOSITE SEX:

Nowadays, men are afraid to be yelled at for being sexist if they open a door or insist on paying. To me this is SOOO WRONG. I love that in ballroom dance, the man presents the lady before himself, he cares for her on the dance floor and leads, he keeps her out of harm’s way, he presents his palm up so that she can present her palm down. Men treat WOMEN like WOMEN on the dance floor. If your son can learn to respect women at an early age, this respect will radiate in his relationships with the women in his life: mother, grandmother, sister, friends, girlfriends and so forth and so on.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of equal pay if both the man and woman deserve it. And I have a zero frustration tolerance for harassment. But seriously- do I appreciate a man when he opens my car door, office door or restaurant door? ABSOLUTELY. Do I believe it’s a man’s privilige to pay for my dinner on the first, second and third date? ABSOLUTELY. Do I warrant respect and to be spoken to as a lady and not another guy in all conversations? ABSOLUTELY.

Am I making sense here?

V. DREAMS, GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Dance teaches children to dream big, go for it, and never hold back. Young men feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when they take their partner’s hand and lead them on and off the dance floor. When they complete their routine in a lesson, show or competition they know they’ve accomplished something big. No matter the dream, whether it be to compete once or win a world championship, hard work, dedication and a positive attitude are what ballroom dance is all about!

VI. POSTURE AND BALANCE:

Ballerinas might argue ballet teaches the best posture. But to me, there’s something quite special about a male ballroom dancer’s posture. The men maintain excellent posture using core strength while dancing in and out of other couples, spinning, leading, staying on beat, and styling their arms. So if your son can learn to use his core and build strong posture doing all of that, he’ll most definitely have an advantage when learning other sports.

Trust me, the older we get, the worse our posture gets if we don’t learn how to maintain it. Many men who age start to drop their heads and round their shoulders forward. Ballroom dance teaches us how NOT TO DO THAT AND TO STAND TALL ALWAYS, IN ANY POSITION.

Let’s conclude…

Now just to clarify. Being a real man has nothing to do with how physically strong you are or how deep your voice is. It does however, have everything to do with how you handle yourself in every situation, both good and bad. It has to do with how well you treat others, animals included. It has to do with how kind, hard working and loving a person you are. At least, those are all the things that I think of when I picture a “real man.” 🙂

I’ve had such an amazing experience teaching some of my young male students. They are all so talented and the personal growth I’ve seen as they age and mature is quite astonishing. I’ve had students who were the opposite of polite and respectful, grow into the most polite and most respectful of young men. Even their attitude towards their parents becomes much more positive and kind through the dancing.

One of our policies at FAB Ballroom for our junior couples is that after each lesson, they must bow and curtsy with a big “thank you, thank you” to their teacher first, then to their parents. The children need to learn gratitude and respect as much as they need to learn their dance steps!

xx Shanna