Our Left Foot Forward

It has been a long known myth that dance is an art form fit for woman, and something that is foreign and at times ‘not ideal’ for the every day man. However, within recent years, stigma behind male involvement in the performance and dance field has begun to erode, and the idea that men have two left feet that belong on a rugby pitch is evaporating.

Males that regularly take dance classes show that they think about their health as they are taking part in a challenging fitness exercise. Classes are known to assist in fine tuning motor fitness, improving muscle tone, increasing agility and even improving cardiovascular health. Additionally, dance classes are known to give you new techniques and skills in how to use their limbs, become more co-ordinated and how to effectively manipulate their own strength off the soccer and rugby fields. Opening up new ways of stretching, strengthening and exercising within a dance studio environment allows for the generation of new thought processes within the brain, allowing creativity and novelty to dominate rational mindsets.

Dance classes are a fun, social and collaborative exercise that enables both men and women, to express emotions with strangers much faster than we normally would. Men that dance regularly are often better equipped at knocking down social barriers, allowing for the development of new social circles and friend groups, learning that performance involves the combined efforts of two or more people, working together in union, coordination and negotiation that allows both boys and men to expand upon their individual selves.

The growth of the male dance industry is allowing the development of creative individualism and allowing boys and men to enhance their social spheres, physical skills, as well as their mental health. Perhaps it is true that in some of us boys there are two left feet, but perhaps the 21 st century dance environment has allowed some of us to put our best left foot forward!