American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Issue: September 2011

Adolescent Males in Dance: A Closer Look at Their Journey
Zihao Li 

Abstract: The pronounced gender imbalance in dance has been the norm for some time. Some studies focus on established male dancers and others focus on aspects of physical education in dance. However, studies about adolescent male dance students (nonprofessional dancers in any form) who take dance classes in a high school setting are almost nonexistent. Understanding this area in a dancer's development may be crucial in retaining boys in dance. One recent study analyzed the authentic realities of being an adolescent male dance student and focused on their dance experience at the high school level. This article highlights some of the insights gained from the study, in particular the stages that adolescent male dance students go through. It also provides dance educators with practical teaching strategies that have proved to be effective for teaching adolescent male dance students.

Article category: Dance