A Few Thoughts on 'the Princess Phase'

I saw this video today, and it got me thinking about all the conversations I’ve had lately with parents and friends about gender roles in dance, and specifically the “princess phase” that many of our three and four year olds go through.  While everyone takes it in strides, I completely understand the little worry that those princesses are reinforcing some pretty old school gender ideas.  I also know there’s a strong princess-ballet connection, so with this in mind, I wanted to share my view on the princess conundrum.

Our creative movement classes aim to explore all movement qualities.  We try some light and flowing moves traditional to ballet, but we also dance with heavy, sharp, or loose qualities (a few examples), and then mix them with each other in endless combinations. 

We never bring up princesses in class, but the children sometimes do and we don’t restrict this.  We feel the key to engaging the kids is to have them constantly connect the movements to their imagination and then build on their ideas.  If relating to a princess gets them thinking and exploring in a way that works for them, I’m alright with that.  Some of the other ideas the they’ve come up with for light flowing moves include astronauts in space, leaves blowing in the wind, and helium balloons.  So while we may spend a few minutes in princess mode, two minutes later we’ll try swamp monsters, leaping crickets or robots.  All inspiration is welcome.

Dance, when taught well, is a uniquely powerful learning tool that engages a child’s physicality, concentration, and creativity at the same time (you can read more about why I think this is so important here).  It breaks my heart when I hear friends worry it will somehow reinforce out-dated gender and beauty stereotypes (and even more so when I see the poorly taught classes that inspire these fears).  While I hate these bad stereotypes around dance, I completely understand the concerns, and that’s why we take the approach we do.