… Transition can be culture shock
Published:Friday | November 1, 2019 | 12:31 AM
Many males give up on contemporary dance training because of the struggles that come with it – some bullied while others are even ostracised. According to Marlon Anthony Tomlinson, a dance teacher and choreographer with The ASHE Academy, some pass up the opportunity to dance on major theatre stages because “It is a culture shock for a male who transitions from the street, like I did, into formal training settings where he is expected to adhere to the requirements, that includes donning dancewear like the dance belt which, although it is the equivalent to a jockstrap worn by athletes to protect the male genitals, is also thought to be feminine or that it emasculates them.”
Tomlinson affirms that the stereotype also stems from decades of tradition, where girls were usually placed in dancing, while boys did sports like football.
The issue was examined in the thesis of the dance teacher’s final-year paper when he studied at Edna Manley’s School of Dance and has in recent times evolved into a video presentation, titled Street Meets Studio. It is shared to Instagram’s video platform IGTV to showcase the relationship between dance techniques developed in the street versus the studio, and features dancers from various communities.
In Tomlinson’s conversation with The Gleaner, he reveals that when he decided to do contemporary dance, friends of both genders started to shun him. Likewise, he shares: “There are actually stories of male dancers of today who have been awarded scholarships to study dance but rejected the opportunity because [their] street crew did not accept it. With the recognition my work has received or the reputation I have built in the street and studio, persons have started to. Sadly, I don’t think the stereotype will break even in the next five years as dancehall is more mainstream than formal dance settings.”