ABSTRACT
The fundamental concern of this chapter is the proposition that many teachers of dance to primary and preschool children perpetuate and reinforce stereotypic gender expectations, so that by the time a group of children has reached puberty the boys have quit the dance class leaving behind a group of passive, anxious girls. The ‘wayward warriors’ have abandoned what they see as boring or irrelevant for other, more manly, pursuits, leaving behind the ‘docile dollies’ (Spurgeon, 1997) to do what they do best-being told how to move and harbouring concerns about how they look. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to detail the causes of, and reasons for this situation; instead the concern expressed above is addressed by a list of suggestions and recommendations designed to assist the teacher of young children to implement a dance program that is attractive and affirmative for all.
