Today’s Topic: Dance Belts.
What is a dance belt?
It is an undergarment for male dancers.
What is the dance belt’s function?
Its two primary functions are to conceal and protect (I think you know what).
Why do male dancers have to wear a dance belt?
In a nutshell (pun intended), male dancers need their hanging glands to be placed out of the way from their own legs squeezing together and from other peoples limbs flying towards that area. If they don’t wear one…they will be dancing the “Nutcracker” in a literal sense. It’s incredibly unsafe to dance without one (any kind of dance). Male dancers who are required to wear tight pants or leggings need to wear dance belts because it looks really obscene not to. They might as well not wear anything. It looks crazy when guys don’t wear one.
How old do you have to be before wearing a dance belt?
Here’s our stance on this: if you are wearing tights, you should be wearing a dance belt, no matter what age you are. There are dance belts available in size, even a children’s size 4.
“Can my son just wear tight underwear?”
-No.
“But my son is really young and doesn’t have much down there.”
-If your son is wearing tights or bike shorts or something like that, underwear is not ok (at least not to my working eyes). Not only can we still see what’s under them, we can also see the awful looking lines from the underwear.
“My son hates the thought of wearing a dance belt, what do I do?”
-You know your son better than we do, so whatever successful techniques you have to get him to do things he doesn’t want to do, use those. However, I am going to give you my two cents as a men’s athletic coach and as a former gymnast who had to start wearing a leotard at age 6; Address it in a matter-of-fact way. This is what you have to wear. The end. Dance belts are what dancers wear. Period. The end. I sure as heck did not want to wear a leotard for gymnastics but it wasn’t something we were allowed to complain about. And that helped, a lot. The other thing I can recommend is to show him a jock strap and a sports cup. Um... those things stink! I don’t want to wear those, ever. A dance belt (at least the WearMoi dance belt we carry) is WAY more comfortable and better looking than those two items. And on top of that, it’s an undergarment. No one can see this thing (that’s the point of it).
Example Jock Strap:
“What are the feelings on a full seat dance belt vs. the thong dance belt?”
-There are mixed feelings about the full seat dance belt. Some believe it’s a crutch or a wimpy way out of wearing a thong. Others think it’s a great way to transition into the thong and a great thing for the dancers that are not so serious about the craft but want the concealing and protecting benefits. As a dance store, there is no way we can’t offer both. And honestly, we like both. We don’t think there is anything wrong with having a transitional style or a substitute undergarment for those who are recreational. But we do understand those who believe it might make the boys still not open to wearing the thong when they need to.
Full Seat Thong Back
“How do you wear the dance belt?”
-In order for the dance belt to achieve both the concealing and protective properties, the dancer needs to lift all things that hang in between his legs up to his stomach and slide the dance belt up so the pouch keeps what was once hanging, up. Basically, make sure you tell them that “everything down there needs to be up in the air, and then the cushion of the belt holds it there.” And the thong of the belt will, yes, be up the crease in between the glutes.
“What is the best dance belt?”
-There is a reason why we only offer one dance belt. It’s the best one. We know this because one of the owners (me) has worn EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. I know there are die-hard fans of other brands but I’d be REALLY surprised to hear that they tried the WearMoi belt we sell and said “Errr... No… I like the one I wear better.”
“Who else can benefit from wearing a dance belt?”
-If you are supposed to wear one when you dance, you should probably be wearing one if you are taking yoga, pilates, or other movement modalities that require a lot of opening and closing of the legs or activities where there is contact to the groin (we’ve actually had quite a few horseback riders and jockeys come to our store searching for a dance belt). I’m not positive but I think wrestlers wear biketards and… wear no underwear. Weird. They would benefit a lot from a dance belt.
This is so helpful. I’m a single mom of a boy who wants to be in our studio’s performing company next year, and I was told by one of the dads that the boys who were in the nutcracker this year had to wear dance belts so he had to buy one for his son. Our boys are both 6, but it’s just a general studio rule that boys wear dance belts when performing in tights. I’m actually glad about that because it leaves you with no question of when to introduce the dance belt. So I’m looking into it now since he wants to join the youth company either at the beginning of summer or the beginning of next school year. I think it’ll be good for him, and if he complains, I’ll just tell him what I tell him when he complains about wearing socks and shoes to school, “that’s just the rule”.
I’m a circus artist, my speciality is trapeze. I have ever hurt my part between my two legs bot sometime I old my breft. So my coach ask my to buy one dance belt and I was effraid and confused because I wasn’t nowing all that stuff and now I’m ready to buy one dance belt! Thank you!
THE REAL HERO’S UTILITY BELT by Dane Youssef
If a guy’s willing to wear the standard jock-strap in any other sport, he should know—and be comfortable enough—to wear the “dance-belt.” Keep in mind that ballet truly is…the ultimate sport.
If the boy asks, “Why?” Just tell him… “It’s just like wearing a jock-strap.” And have his father tell him what happens when one—any jock—-plays virtually any sport without wearing a jock. Except boxing, of course. Or let him see himself what happens.
Yes, ballet is a sport. In fact, it’s the ultimate sport. It makes anything else—even those sports that involve riding down snowy cliffs at break-neck speed or driving vehicles that have no speed limit.
A man should protect himself. Just like the woman keeps her toes taped and padded with gel inserts and cotton balls when she does Pointe. Have that belt and made a nice firm cup over it at the same time. Accidents can happen. A guy needs less protection (just like anything else in life), but he still needs it. Women need more accessories when it comes to doing anything… and this is certainly no exception.
Tell the boys that they can dance. Tell them they’re supposed to. Ladies… ask them to dance with you. Tell them that they have a place in ballet… An important place…
—As Always, Dane Youssef
I love to wear my dance belt, I wear it even when I’m at school.
Just wanted to say thanks. After reading this thread I did some wider reading then transitioned my son (9 years) across to a dance belt late last year. We tried a couple of different ones, but he’s now happy and obviously comfortable, often remaining in his belt for several hours after returning home from an 8 hour day at the studio. We are currently approaching ballet exam time of year here in Australia and many of the older boys in my son’s studio are not coping well with having to transition to dance belts for exams. Being a few years older, the belts are no longer optional for these boys. I’m very happy my son has switched across early, as it seems it is much easier to adjust (so to speak) at a younger age. Thanks to boysdancetoo for providing the info we needed :)
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