Finally Found: Ballet Tights that Fit a Teenage Boy!

As a short breather to the Duncan Cooper series (and since I don’t have time right now to post another piece to that interview), I’d like to share that Julian has finally found some ballet tights that fit and that he loves. He says he can’t even tell he’s wearing them! So, I want to share the brand: MStevens Inc. of Los Angeles, CA, in case any other boys his age – 14 – have had trouble finding tights that fit. (He happens to have purchased the footed tights, Style 1099.)

This comes after a very long search for tights. In fact, he’s been wearing the same pair day in and day out. He has a second pair, but he doesn’t like them and won’t wear them. (One more purchase that was a waste of money.) We have found that Discount Dance Supply carries MStevens on line, and we are going to order two more pair. (This week they have some special shipping discounts.) Then he’ll be outfitted with ballet tights and dance shoes for ABT this summer. We still need to buy jazz pants, which he hates, some footless tights for hip hop (no sweats or shorts allowed at ABT), and a Pilates or yoga mat. Then he is set to go.

Today he had his year-end evaluation at dance; it wasn’t as intimidating as it was last time, and his Dad and I didn’t have any “stuff” up around the studio/company or anything like that. (We now are very happy with our/his studio choice.) So, it was pretty smooth sailing. They seem happy to have Julian, and he’s happy to be there. After a bit of a plateau in his dancing, he seems to be improving – or so they say. They also feel sure that going to NYC and dancing with a bunch of boys and under the tutelage of new and excellent teachers will be a superb experience for him. That made us all feel good about the decision, which is a bit of a hardship on our family, to say the least. He does need to work on a few things to avoid shin splints while at the intensive, such as landing and rolling through his whole foot and using his full plie on his jumps. And there was something or other about his hips or pelvis that related to his core. I know from writing about foot health twice now that that affects everything, the legs and feet in particular.

Speaking of feet, my story on how to keep a tap dancer’s feet healthy is now out in Dance Teachermagazine, for those of you who subscribe or want to purchase it. I guess the one about how to attract boys to a studio must have been in the April issue. They failed to send me that one, so I didn’t see it. Look for an article on three teen dance companies, including Julian’s company, Teen Dance Company of the Bay Area, in the July-August issue of Dance Spirit magazine.

Meeting Debbie Allen and Experiences at DADA

We took off for LA on Tuesday morning, skipping dance on Tuesday (and a Passover seder on both the first and second night — Wednesday and Thursday – of the holiday) so we could make it to UCLA for a tour by afternoon. That was the start of three days of intensive college tours primarily for my daughter, although Julian did get a brief tour of UCLA’s dance program and of California Institute for the Arts dance program on Thursday as well. University of Southern California, our Wednesday tour, doesn’t offer a dance major, so he went off to Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA)  instead.

While UCLA offers a unique world arts and culture approach to dance, which didn’t interest Julian because it wasn’t technical enough for his tastes, Cal Arts is interesting for anyone wanting to come out as a triple threat. The school doesn’t offer a musical theater track, but in addition to dance, students have the opportunity to study drama and voice. Unfortunately, Julian didn’t feel this dance program was for him either. Of course, he’s just a freshman at the moment. He has time to decide. I just thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and let him tour these schools at the same time as his sister.

The highlight of his three days in Southern California was his time at DADA, otherwise known as The Academy. (Mine was probably meeting Debbie Allen herself, although I think this was a highlight for both Julian and my daughter, Ariel. We felt so honored.) Besides taking an advanced ballet class taught by Vitaly Artuishkin , formerly of  the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, he also took a men’s ballet class and a modern class taught by Debbie Allen’s daughter. However, I think what he enjoyed most was his time spent with other male dancers.

Not only was he never the only boy in the class, he did get to take ballet class with a group of boys. Additionally, when he was waiting for me to come pick him up or if I had dropped him off early, he was able to go into a studio with one or two other boys and work on break dancing moves and just “mess around” and practice with “the guys.” And these guys all spoke the same language.  They may have been discussing how to do a windmill — something Julian was pleased to learn — but when the instruction from a fellow dancer came with ballet terms. No where but at DADA would you find that, I thought, at a place where the boys are learning everything from hip hop to ballet to modern to tap to silk (that form of dance done hanging from long strands of fabric).

And, according to Debbie Allen, she knows male dancers are unique. She told me she does not require that they wear tights for ballet…at least not initially. She let’s them ease into tights as they feel ready.

Julian fared well next to the other boys in his classes at DADA. However, while his turns were shown off in both ballet classes, his inability to get his splits and his general lack of flexibility were more than apparent. I don’t know how much of that is due to his huge growth spurt — at least 6-8 inches in the last 8 months — or to something else. He’s never been very flexible. He’s never been able to do a split. And this doesn’t seem to be improving. I know his muscles and tendons can’t keep up with his bones at this point, but he’ll need to do something to improve his flexibility, and this will set him back with his placement at American Ballet Theatre this summer. (Maybe I’ll ask some experts for advice on how to help boys improve their flexibility and post it here.)

Speaking of which, my husband found an article published in the New York Times a few years ago about a boy who attended the ABT summer intensive. The reporter made it sound more than difficult: The boy suffered from shin splints, blisters and toe nails pushed into the nail bed… Yet, he danced on. I hope Julian finds it a little less wearing on his body.

According to this article, the ABT summer intensive dancers are placed by audition once again when they get there. They are given numbers and put through their paces. They then are placed by “colored” level. This seems appropriate. No special treatment, just placement by ability.

We are still looking for a sublet in New York. Prices are outrageous. I’m looking forward to six weeks of working and playing in the city, though. I remember my time working in Manhattan quite fondly.

Getting Ready for Another Convention: NYCDA

I didn’t write this week, because we didn’t have much going on. The company turned its focus to preparing for the NYCDA convention, where they will once again compete.

Julian’s not too excited about going to this convention. He says three in a row was too many. Plus, he wanted to attend a dance the Jewish organization he is just about to join is putting on that night. (Plus, he has a big English assignment due next Friday that he needs to do this weekend, and he won’t have any time until Sunday night. Needless to say, that class is his worst grade…and I won’t tell you how bad.)

Two weeks from now I’m going to take Julian to UCLA to see the dance department. My daughter will be touring the school and the theater department, so Julian will get a college head start and tour the dance department two years early.

While we are in LA, we might see if he can go to Debbie Allen’s dance studio for a class or two. We plan on looking into that this weekend. He won’t be able to make it down there for the tap festival this year, since it conflicts with Julian’s studio’s summer intensive, although we had hoped to go and maybe slip in a class or two with Debbie at that time. Instead, we’ll be at the San Francisco Tap Festival. Probably better for us, since we will have just gotten back from NYC after the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive. (By the way, we are now actively looking for a rental in NYC from June 13 through July 24 or 28. Let me know if you have any leads.)

Other than that, not much new here. I’ve been very busy with work. I’ll try to write more next week. In the meantime, we’re off to another convention bright and early tomorrow…have to be there at 7:45 a.m.

My Son’s Adventures in Booty Shorts

Okay, some of you may find this post doesn’t live up to its great title, but I just couldn’t resist after saying that’s what I would write about next! Anyway, here’s the dirt: Julian, much to his dismay, has to wear booty shorts for one of his pieces of choreography during the three performances his company will give this weekend during their show.

He’s never worn booty shorts before. He has flat out refused to have a pair and has had nothing nice to say about them. In other words, booty shorts are not his favorite piece of dance attire.

Let’s put it this way: He likes dance belts better. In fact, I bought him a new brand of dance belt made out of a cotton blend and with a bit wider strap up the buttocks (or booty…if you look up the definition of the word), and he told me that it was “comfy.” He wouldn’t say that about booty shorts. In fact, here’s what he had to say about the borrowed pair he is wearing (he refused to let me buy him a pair of his own — he won’t own a pair): “They are uncomfortable, ride up my butt, make me feel naked, and I hate them.”

That said, it doesn’t matter how he feels about them — or in them, for that matter — he’ll be wearing them this weekend in one number performed three times. And I’ll get to see just how cute he looks in them. (Now, I have to ‘fess up that tonight — actually after I had already posted this — he came home and admitted they were “comfortable.” So, just like a dance belt, I guess he has gotten used to them. Next thing you know, we’ll be buying a pair…Just you wait and see.)

On another subject, he has decided to give up summer camp to go to American Ballet Theatre’s summer dance intensive. That was really a no brainer. Now I just have to figure out how to afford it and where we will stay. The 25% scholarship, which I have been told should be relished since any ABT scholarships are not given out freely, helps but is not nearly enough to make this affordable. Of course, being the good dance mom that I am, I will make this happen.

I did, however, go through a very bad (and probably perimenopausal hormonal day) feeling terrible that my husband and I messed around with Julian’s summer plans by ever even suggesting that he audition for ABT’s summer intensive. I was crying and depressed and feeling horrible about putting him in a position of having to choose between one last year of summer camp with his friends and this dance program. (Now, of course, I had told my husband not long ago that the money spent on summer camp would buy a lot of dancing, and Julian would be better off dancing, but I still felt terrible that he had to choose between the two.) 

Julian was very brave and adult about it, and said that maybe the reason he missed so much of camp last year (when he was sick) was to make it easier this year to make this choice. I guess my “there must be a reason for everything” attitude really has rubbed off on him! We decided that he probably doesn’t feel quite as attached or connected to those friends since he spent only two weeks with them rather than four, and that did, indeed, make it a bit easier to decide on ABT rather than camp. He, himself, did say that camp was “just a small bit of time” compared to ABT, which would “affect his whole life.” Now…camp does affect him considerably, but ABT will change his attitudes, perfect his dancing, open his eyes to the dance opportunities available to him — and to the world of other male dancers out there.

Also, in another year or two, he might not make it into the ABT summer intensive. Ballet is not his primary focus, and as these boys get older, the competition for getting into this program (or any program) gets tougher. He’ll be auditioning in another age group in two years. Even next year, there’s no gaurantee that he would once again get selected for New York. So, he said, “I better go now.”

Which means I’ll probably be going, too. I used to work in Manhattan. I’m kind of looking forward to it!

Next post: More Opportunities Julian Can’t Take Advantage Of…

The New Year Brings Opportunities, Choices and a Search for Summer Dance Programs and Tights

Sorry for the lapse in blog posts. I’ve been sick on and off for about two weeks now. My husband had a cough. Then Julian got stuffed up. Then I came down with a fever and a rash and about five days later a full blown cold. Now my daughter has it, too.  Anyway, the new year at our house started out with a bunch of germs rather than a bang.

It also, however, started out with another performance opportunity for Julian. He’s been asked by the director of Los Gatos Ballet, who also directed the San Jose Dance Theater Nutcracker performance in which he performed, to be in a production of Copellia. I guess Marcie Ryken liked his performance enough to want him in her next production. Julian is happy to go back and dance with the lovely girls at LGB.

Not only that, he’s going to be taking class from, Maximo Califano, a principal dancer with Ballet San Jose. It seems Marcie has asked him to teach a pas de deux class on Monday nights, and she has asked Julian to come take this class — free of charge. Well, she does need someone to partner with the girls, after all. I’ve been told Maximo can be quite charming as a teacher — at least to the women, but Julian has found him less than charming to work with in productions. We’ll see how he behaves to Julian in class.

Now, Julian being in this production of Copellia is dependent upon Teen Dance Company saying it is okay for him to have a technical rehearsal and a performance on the Thursday and Friday just before the technical rehearsal week of their big end of the year production. We are still waiting for their decision… I hate not being able to make decisions for ourselves.

Then there are the summer activity decisions. Julian insists he wants to go back to his Jewish summer camp one last time, especially since last year his illness caused him to miss half the session. That’s a whole month of the summer gone — no dancing. Well, actually, the session he will be attending is an arts session, and he could dance if he wanted to.  While we really don’t have the money this year for camp (although we are going to find some way to pay for it, I guess.) let alone a dance intensive, we took him this past weekend to San Francisco to audition for the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive, which is held in a variety of cities. Attending is totally dependant upon him getting a scholarship. Also, if he by some chance was chosen to go to New York, which is doubtful since it’s their premier program, he couldn’t go to his camp. If he was selected to go to Southern California, he’ll miss the summer intensive at Teen Dance Company and its auditions, not to mention the first audition for a piece of choreography.

Oh, the choices these young kids have to make…or worry about making before they even know if the choices are viable.

Julian is also going to audition for Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance summer intensive programs, although, again, we attending may be totally dependent upon being offered a scholarship. We figure the audition process is worth going through, and it will be interesting to simply see if he makes it into any of the programs, where he is placed if he does get chosen, and if he does qualify for a merit scholarship. Then, he can choose…or not.

I hate the fact that kids have to make so many choices, and that so many things seem to overlap. I always seem to have something going on at the same time that that one or both of my kids have some big event happening. It’s amazing really, how often that happens. It’s like some Ultimate schedule coordinator just likes to see me get frustrated about the things I can’t do and the choices I have to make. And If I get frustrated, imagine our kids making similar decisions and choices when faced with the same types of schedule conflicts.

He did enjoy the audition, though. There were 86 girls and 5 boys. He said he had fun. He wasn’t stressed at all. He knew several of the girls and made friends with one of the boys — the one he said seemed like the most serious dancer. It was fun to see him there looking so much in his element with the other dancers. I think he never feels that comfortable or that much like himself anywhere other than at a dance studio filled with other dancers. It makes me wish he’d gone to a performing arts school, although the closest one is in San Francisco, almost an hour and a half away.

We had to get two letters of recommendation for the audition and show up with a head shot and a photo of him in a particular ballet position. We also brought a resume of his experience, even though they didn’t ask for it. They’ll let us know in a week if he made it into a program.

On another note, we are on a major search for ballet tights that fit. The ones Julian has been wearing for a year, which we order from Discount Dance Wear’s catalogue, no longer fit him correctly. So…we have to find some other ones somewhere. We’ve already had these other ones shipped to us in two different sizes, and no I have to start from scratch. He’s down to just one pair of tights at the moment.

If anyone has leads on good boys ballet tights (the kind that go over the foot), please send along the information! Post your comments after this blog so everyone else can see the links and information as well. It’s so hard to find dance wear for boys, as we all know.

On that note, if you haven’t noticed, I have not upped the price on my daughter’s T-shirts for boys yet. So, take advantage of the fact that they are still being offered at a reduced cost.

You Can Now Order My Brother Can Dance© Dance-Related T-Shirts! Purchase those Christmas and Chanukah Gifts for Boys/Men Who Dance Today!

Finally! The webpage My Brother Can Dance^© page is up and running and so are the buy buttons and postage options! You can purchase those gifts for the boys and men you love who love to dance. And you should get them in time for Christmas or Chanukah if you order this week. I won’t tell you how many hours I put into this endeavor (like I dont’ have work of my own – the things we do for our kids…), but I’m happy to say we are ready for business…

Unfortunately, we did have to raise the prices from what I initially quoted, but just by $2. And we are going to raise prices after December 30. Currently, we are offering a $5 savings so you can put that towards Priority or Express shipping.

To order, go to: http://www.purespiritcreations.com/My-Brother-Can-Dance-Boys’-and-Mens’-Dance-Related-T-Shirts-and-Dance-Wear.html

And here’s all the information again (althought it’s also on the webpage):

“My Son Can Dance” is proud to introduce:

Ariel Amir Lacey’s line of boys’ and mens’ dance-related T-shirts and dance wear!

 

 

3 fun designs for dancing boys and men to wear!

Choose one or choose them all!

Special discounted introductory prices for December!

After this, prices will go up! Save $5 by ordering now!

To order, go to http://www.purespiritcreations.com/My-Brother-Can-Dance-Boys’-and-Mens’-Dance-Related-T-Shirts-and-Dance-Wear.html

 

But to help you get those shirts under your Christmas tree or ready for lighting Chanukah candles, we’ve priced them especially to accommodate Priority and Express shipping.

 

Shirts are available in white only right now with black artwork and lettering and in adult sizes small, medium and large.

 

 

 

 Purchase a white short-sleeved “This is My Playing Field” T-Shirt in small, medium or large adult sizes for $12 plus shipping!

 

 

                                    

Purchase a white short-sleeved “Real Men Lift” T-Shirt in small, medium or large adult sizes for $12 plus shipping!

             

 

Purchase a white short-sleeved “The Beats Go On” T-Shirt in small, medium or large adult sizes for $12 plus shipping!

 

To order, go to http://www.purespiritcreations.com/My-Brother-Can-Dance-Boys’-and-Mens’-Dance-Related-T-Shirts-and-Dance-Wear.html

For Canadian orders, 1 shirt including priority (6-10 days) mail shipping: $22; 2 shirts – $31; 3 shirts – $32. Please email ninaamirlacey@aol.com to place Canadian orders. Place the words “My Brother Can Dance T-Shirt Order” in the subject line.

For other overseas orders: $12 per shirt plus shipping. Please email ninaamirlacey@aol.com to place overseas orders. Place the words “My Brother Can Dance T-Shirt Order” in the subject line.

For orders of more than 3 shirts, please contact ninaamirlacey@aol.com.

As of December 30, prices become $17 per shirt plus shipping.

We will be ready to begin shipping shirts hopefully by December 16.

All payments will be made via PayPal.

All questions should be directed to NinaAmirLacey@aol.com; place the words “My Brother Can Dance T-Shirt Order” in the subject line. Or call 408-353-1943 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. PST.

To order, go to http://www.purespiritcreations.com/My-Brother-Can-Dance-Boys’-and-Mens’-Dance-Related-T-Shirts-and-Dance-Wear.html

Happy Holidays!

And keep those dancing boys dancing!

 (In My Brother Can Dance^© T-Shirts, of course!)

Update on T-Shirts for Boys and Men Who Dance

Okay, folks. I couldn’t wait any longer for the proofs of the T-shirts. They should be ready later today (although I fear one of them is the wrong artwork). So, in order to let you see the designs, I’m posting some scanned in artwork now. I’ll post the actually artwork on shirts when I get it, but just imagine these images on the front of a T-shirt (minus the additional caption on the bottom). What I’m posting here will be cleaned up and might have typed, rather than handwritten, words; the print shop likes the handwritten effect, however. So, we’ll see about that.

We might have the shirts available in black as well as white and in youth as well as adult sizes. Black costs a bit more, as do youth sizes…so, if you are inclined towards black, tell us. If you have an inclination to order, please let us know that right away as well. That will help us decide how many shirts to print initially.

We realize that Christmas and Chanukah are just a few weeks away, and it will take at least a week to get these shirts printed. I will be going to the post office today or tomorrow to get shipping information, and then, as I already mentioned in an earlier post, we will give you a great introductory price that allows for Priority and Express shipping, if necessary. We’ll up the prices as of December 26th to the normal price.

So, without further ado, let me introduce Ariel Amir Lacey’s line of boys T-shirts and Dance Clothing:

My Brother Can Dance T-Shirts and DanceWear

This is My Playing Field

Real Men Lift

The Beats Go On

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watcha think?

If you have a website or blog, please feel free to link to this post and tell other dancers about these T-shirts.

Until I have actual pricing and shipping info, I can just take preorders (but prices for the holidays will likely be no more than $15 and we are trying to keep it under that to allow for increased shipping costs). People can email me with their preorders at ninaamirlacey@aol.com with the worlds “My Brother Can Dance T-Shirt PreOrder” in the subject line.

I’m set up to handle payment via PayPal. As soon as I have shipping info, I’ll let you know exact pricing.

If I had some idea right now of how many people might need youth sizes as opposed to adult sizes, that would be super! And if you want black rather than white T-shirts, that would be helpful, too. Otherwise, we’ll be initially printing only white T-shirts and adult small and medium.

That’s it today. Tomorrow, hopefully I’ll have the shipping info and prices. I’ll also have an update on Julian’s Nutcracker performances.

 

We’re Cracking Nuts to Get Ready for the Nutcracker…and to Produce T-Shirts for Holiday Gifts!

OMG! Julian’s Nutcracker performances are this weekend already. When he performed with Ballet San Jose, the performances were the week before Christmas (Or was it for two full weeks?), but we came back from Thanksgiving in NY to a crazy tech week schedule. Thank goodness I’ve completed my 30-day writing blog. And we don’t even just have his performances to worry about. I’ve got a friend in town – coming a day earlier than expected – to teach some Kabbalistic drumming classes I organized for him. So, I’m on duty for that most of the weekend. (I see the Nutcracker Friday night.) My daughter is in the Christmas parade with her synchronized swimming team on Saturday. My hubby is doing security for the Nutcracker on Saturday morning. I think we’ll sleep well on Sunday night.

Now, the biggest thing for Julian seems to be whether or not his new boots will work for the Russian dance. He forgot to try them out at rehearsal yesterday. (I’m so glad I stressed about getting them here on time for tech week…) They aren’t ballet shoes but actually jazz shoes on the bottom. After that, he only needs to worry about landing on his feet for the flip he does during that dance. He actually runs up and puts one foot in the hands of the other boy and gets thrust into the air, where he does a flip. Imagine someone who runs up a wall and flips over and lands on his feet. It’s much like that. He’s landed badly a few times, but never on his head.  A few times he’s touched the floor with his hands. Now he has to do it in these boots that will feel totally different on his feet. I hope they will help. Then, of course, there are the other jumps, leaps, turns, and regular old ballet moves he has to do in these non-ballet shoes.

As for the T-shirts I promised you for Christmas…I haven’t forgotten. We ran into a few hitches. The artwork is ready to go to the printer now, and we will see if we can get them produced quickly enough to allow for arrival in time for the holidays. We will price to accommodate priority shipping, I promise.

I am proud to say that my talented daughter, Ariel, was able to design three shirts based on sayings that I came up with! This is the beginning of “My Brother Can Dance Designs©” by Ariel Amir Lacey. I’ll tell you the sayings, and you can ponder the pictures… “Real men lift,” “This is my playing field,” and “The beats go on.” If we get enough T-shirt orders, she will transfer the designs to sweatshirts and sweat pants as well.

That’s it for today…Hopefully, I’ll have artwork to show you in a few days – by next week at the latest, and I’m assured that the shirts can be printed in just days if necessary. So, keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Thankgoodness No Dancing or Driving Day!

Okay, I’ve been a bit remiss in writing this blog lately, I know. I told you, my other blog, Write Nonfiction in November, has been taking up most of my time. And I have to also write a post every now and then in my long-standing blog, As the Spirit Moves Me, as well. Then of course, I do have a job as a nonfiction book editor and a freelance journalist, not to mention the second job – or is it my first? – as my children’s personal life coach, taxi driver, cook, and calendar keeper. All this too say, I’ve been a bit busy lately.

Right now I’m sitting in the San Francisco Airport waiting for a flight to New York for my family’s annual Thanksgiving Day reunion. It’s the first chance I’ve had to write a post. I’ve got two things I want to tell you.

The first has to do with my last topic – holiday gifts for our dancing boys. My very talented daughter, who recently changed her mind about what she plans on majoring in when she gets to college (she’s a junior in high school) from fine art to costume design, has come up with a line of T-shirts for dancing boys/men. (Finally, she has taken my advice and decided to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the lack of cool clothes for boys and men who dance. Given her fashion/costume/art ability, she’s a prime target to develop this line of clothing, especially since she lives with such a boy – much to her dismay a lot of the time.) So, hopefully just in time for the holidays, she plans on introducing “My Brother Can Dance” shirts and (also hopefully) sweat pants. We’ve already got possibly four T-shirts in mind. Julian is vetting out the sayings and the art work and providing Ariel with a model. Given that we will be away until the 29th, the designs won’t be available for viewing or pre-orders until sometime during the first week in December. We hope to offer an introductory price to allow for Priority Mail shipping costs, so you can get your shirts by Christmas or Chanukah. When we get back, we’ll figure out how fast the printer can print the shirts, get shipping costs, etc., and show you the designs!

The second thing I want to say is very short: Happy Thanksgiving! And Thankgoodness that we parents of dancing boys don’t have to drive for a few days, because no dancing will be happening over the holiday! Of course, I will be sewing on white elastic on black ballet shoes for the Nutcracker Scene 1…but I can handle that. And I’ll be on an airplane…but I’m grateful for small things. Have a very happy Turkey Day!

Holiday Gifts for Guys Who Dance – Got Any Ideas?

Okay, Julian just got a notice that the studio/company is doing Secret Santas – gifts costing about $30. (The budget has gone up from the days when we bought Secret Santa gifts for $5 or less for the kids on his dance team.) I’ll reserve my feelings about this to just two comments. First, we’re Jewish…but I’ll leave that alone. Second, and here’s what I really want to say on the topic, what type of gifts can you get guys who dance – not that we need to worry about this? I mean really? (We’ll probably have an easy time finding dance “stuff” for a girl.)

This happens to be a pet peeve of mine. There are few if any dance clothes out there for boys. And after that, you might be able to purchase a new pair of dance shoes or a dance bag (if it’s neutral enough) to give as a gift to a male dancer. You could purchase a ballet barr (not a Secret Santa item, mind you), I suppose, or some Pilates bands. Music always works, but it’s not too creative.

If anyone has great ideas for gifts for dancing guys, please post some comments and let me know. And if you have great links for dance gear or clothing for guys, do the same. I’ll create a resource here. I’ve been meaning to do that, but I’ve found little in that way so far.

The holiday season is fast approaching. If we want to purchase dance-related gifts for our twinkle-toed sons, we better put our heads together and come up with some unique ideas…or some good resources.

 

Note:  After quite a bit of effort, my daughter has come up with the perfect gift for boys who dance, especially those who take ballet class. Check out her line of three t-shirts at http://www.purespiritcreations.com/My-Brother-Can-Dance-Boys’-and-Mens’-Dance-Related-T-Shirts-and-Dance-Wear.html! Hopefully there will be more to come at a later date.