Dance education experiences of boys and male youth are investigated in terms of dominant constructions of contemporary Western masculinity and the potential limitations these hegemonic discourses may place on male participation. Recent research on boys and male youth in dance, although limited, suggests prevailing social stigma, heteronormative assumptions, narrow definitions of masculinity, and internalized homophobia in the field. For boys and young males, however, choosing to dance may be an important vehicle for investigating dominant notions about masculinity, gender, sexual orientation, and the body. From emerging research, this review essay explores the ways in which male youth in dance confront heterocentric bias, gender norms, and gendered bodies, as well as peer pressure and dominant cultural ideology in dance training and education. Focal points include key social questions of difference, pleasure, marginalization, and the larger effects and limitations of contemporary masculinity.

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This article explores the ways in which gay male presence and contribution to dance education in the US is minimised in order to legitimate male participation and to gain wider social acceptance of dance. Current muted discourses regarding homosexuality in dance pedagogy are not only shortsighted, but also unwittingly reproduce narrow stereotypes of male dancers and deleterious homosexual mythologies for gay male youth in dance. The author suggests that critical analysis and professional uni cation focused around critical social issues in dance education are central to a more inclusive and liberating dance pedagogy.The homophobia that surrounds concert dance and dance education-in nearly all contexts and environments-is one of the many challenges that dance educators in America face. It is a controversial issue which has been tackled with a variety of well-intentioned approaches. People tend to 1) highlight numerous and noteworthy heterosexual male dancers, 2) focus on comparisons between male athletes (presumably heterosexual) and male dancers, 3) minimize the large gay male population in dance in multiple ways, or 4) avoid the rocky terrain altogether. While I am sympathetic to those who try to confront homophobic attitudes about dance, I believe that such measures actually make matters worse, exacerbating the already fragile situation that males within dance encounter. Although recent research indicates that gay and bisexual men comprise half the male population in dance in the US (Hamilton, 1998;Bailey & Oberschneider, 1997), scholarship and pedagogical studies rarely focus on the experiences of gay men and boys in dance education [1].The tendency to avoid issues of sexual orientation in dance education may arise from the complicated social webs of cultural heterosexism, homophobic bias, and social attitudes that infantilise youth, young adults and their sexuality. However, sidestepping this dif cult subject not only en ames original concerns, but gives the impression that those in authority condone current practices in the eld. In addition, critical social concerns like these, as well as others in the dance profession-such as sexual harassment and abuse, eating disorders, gender equity, and poor working conditions-seldom

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