So You Think You Can Dance

I was in Carlsbad yesterday running some errands, and I parked my car in front of a dance studio.  The students, age 5-10 were just finishing class.  About 10 children came out of the class, and four of them were boys.  I was surprised.  Parents have generally gotten their boys involved in sports, but due to several factors, dance is becoming acceptable for boys.

It could be due to the popularity of So You Think You Can Dance? and Dancing With the Stars over the past decade.  Boys see that it's ok to dance, that it can be a career, and that dancing can attract some good looking women.  Boys see football players, actors, politicians, and astronauts dancing, and want to do it too.

Dancing enhances ones rhythm, balance, grace and flexibility.  Football players, basketball players and baseball players can all benefit from dance.  Some great football players think their dance background has enhanced their ability to play football, basketball or baseball.  Lynn Swann and Willie Gault are just two of the great football players that studied dance.

I was an advocate of Yoga many years ago, before it became so popular.  25 years ago I used to take yoga in Santa Monica at a well known studio, called Yoga Works.  I was shocked when I found big, burly men in the class.  I came to discover they were all football players from college and pro teams in the Los Angeles area.  Many of them were also studying dance.  Think about it.  The moves of running back require speed, flexibility, coordination and balance.  Dance and yoga improve all of that.

Thank goodness boys can now go to dance class and feel proud.  They no longer have to keep their passion a secret.  Although we've got a long way to go as a society, we are definitely becoming more accepting of our differences.  That's part of what makes us great.