Dance is thought to be such a “girls’ thing” to the point that guys are too afraid of discrimination to try it. Why is it that guys who play football are encouraged and celebrated but guys who dance are not? The two are more alike than you think. Both require top physical form, footwork and timing, and lots of practice. So why aren’t they treated with the same respect?

I have danced for nearly six years now, and every single time someone asks me if I play any sports, I say that I dance. They give me a strange look, like they’re wondering why exactly I chose to do dance. Even today people ask me this question, and the reason is that I wanted to do something outside of the typical guy’s comfort zone.\

“A lot of people have this image that a dancer means a little girl prancing around in a tutu. They don’t understand the athleticism that it entails. I love when the community sees the amazing work that you all put in,” said Deanna Fredrickson, a director from Dance Mode Studio in San Carlos, where I’ve been attending classes for six years. “They see boys and girls doing flips, hip hop, breaking and showing incredible flexibility.”

No one should think that dance is something to do for laughs. This shows in the 2007 Disney movie, “The Game Plan”, where Maddison Pettis teaches Dwayne Johnson, a pro football player, that dance is every bit as hard and maybe harder than football.

This has a ring of truth to it, as many dancers come back from lessons or offstage sweaty and sore, and possibly with multiple injuries.

That’s all well and good, but here at Sequoia, the maximum number of boys that Taylor White, the PE-dance teacher has ever taught at one time was 10. Right now, only 13 boys are in Dance PE. The lack of boys was obvious at the Homecoming pep rally and football game, where only two or three males performed in each dance number. This is proof that there needs to be more boys out there doing dance, whether inside Sequoia, or outside.

Upperclassmen are aware of this, but freshman in PE-1 must take a dance unit during the year, which hopefully will inspire more boys to learn dance.

To all guys at Sequoia: never be afraid of stereotypes or discrimination. Guys can do whatever girls do. If you are a guy who wants to join dance, do it. You won’t regret it. Dance is for everyone.