Traffic keeps arriving at my blog searching for men’s recreational ballet, and finding very little.
There genuinely isn’t much written about it. So here’s what I’ve seen.
More men are starting than you’d think
Men are taking up ballet for the same reasons everyone else does — health, core strength, and the pull of moving well.
When I was travelling around to different studios for drop-in classes, there was almost always at least one man in the room. Not a crowd. But not a rarity either.
The one I remember
There was a man in a class I’ll always remember.
At the start of the session he was hesitant — visibly unsure, hanging back, doing the thing where you check whether you’re allowed to be there.
Then, at the point in class when the rest of us had burned through our stamina and were fading, he did the jumps. Alone, and properly, and with real conviction.
I remember thinking that took an enormous amount of courage. And then thinking that the courage had already been spent — at the door, before the class started. Everything after that was just dancing.
Classes taught by male teachers are different
Worth knowing if you’re choosing a studio.
When I’ve taken class with a male teacher, there was noticeably more jumping and more dynamic movement than in a standard class.
I have vivid memories of my stamina collapsing partway through and getting through maybe half of centre.
If you like the athletic side of it, seek those classes out. If you’re new, know what you’re walking into.
What to know before you start
Nobody is looking at you. Everyone in that room is entirely occupied with their own turnout. This is the single most reliable thing I can tell you.
The strength you have is an asset, and it is not the whole job. Jumps may come easier. Flexibility, turnout and the control in slow work will take exactly as long as they take everyone.
Wear what’s comfortable to the first class. Tracksuit bottoms and a fitted top are completely normal. Nobody expects anything else.
Ballet shoes are the one thing to buy early. Canvas flats. That’s it. Everything else can wait.
Find the studio with someone else like you in it. Not essential — but the first few weeks are easier when you’re not the only one.
And the honest part
The hesitation I saw in that man on his first day is the same hesitation I had, for different reasons. I was told at nine that recreational ballet stopped at pre-school age and from primary school they only took students training professionally.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t learn. There was nowhere that would take me.
If you’ve been circling this for a while, wondering whether a ballet studio is a place for you — it is. Recreational classes exist precisely so that people who aren’t training professionally can dance.
Turn up in tracksuit bottoms. Stand in the second row.
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