LORDS OF DANCE

Tyce Talbott, 9, works on his middle split leap as members of his jazz class look on recently at Tammie Locklar’s Dance Studio. Talbott is currently taking a full load of classes at the dance studio that include tap, ballet and jazz.

PHOTOS BY KEVIN BUEHLER|ODESSA AMERICAN

KEVIN BUEHLER|ODESSA AMERICAN

Tyce Talbott, 9, stretches out prior to the start of his jazz class recently at Tammie Locklar’s Dance Studio. Talbott has been dancing at his mother’s dance studio since he could walk.

Male dancers
are making
a comeback

plans to quit. “It runs in the family,” Tyce said. “I keep dancing ’cause I just have a lot of fun, you make a lot of friends.”
     Tyce currently takes a full load at Tammie Locklar’s Dance Studio with classes like tap, ballet, and jazz.
     But it’s not just those few styles that are gaining the male attention.
    Tyce said hip-hop is probably the most popular dance among boys.
     “Its really manly,” he said. Dance instructor Ashley Tessaro agreed.
     “That would probably be their favorite,” she said. “It’s something they could do that would be quite easy.”

    Another style of dance making a comeback is ballroom dancing.
     Moises Carrasco, an 18-year-old student at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, has been dancing for 2 1/2 years.
     He takes ballroom and Latin dance lessons at Love to Dance Studio in Odessa.

     “I just really wanted

to learn —

PHOTO COURTESY BY LOVE TO DANCE STUDIO

Moises Carrasco, 18, practices with Beatriz Gonzales, 16, their Argentine Tango moves.

salsa was the main interest,” Carrasco said.

      “After trying some of the other stuff, it was a lot more interesting, especially learning that there was more to it.”
     Carrasco said he believes boys taking dance classes is a growing trend.
     “It’s just a matter of getting it out there,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know about it — they’re not aware of how laid back it is. It’s just something you go out to do.”
     And, Carrasco said, despite common perception, dancing’s not

so effeminate — even to his peers.

     “I would think a lot of them might look down upon it, that it’s not very manly,” Carrasco said, “But I’m surprised that many
say it’s cool.”
     While Tammie Locklar’s Dance Studio has seen an increase in male dancers, others aren’t seeing the big jump.
     “I think here, there’s just too much peer pressure, which is unfortunate,” Ann Wright, dance instructor for Dee-Ann Dance Studio, said, “I just think their daddies don’t want them to take it. We have a lot of dads come in and say, ‘Oh, he’s going to play football.’ ”
     But Tyce’s father Garrett Talbot said he doesn’t have a problem with his son taking dance lessons.
     “If that’s what he enjoys doing, more power to him,” Talbot said.
 

ON THE NET:
 

>> Learn to dance: www.learntodance.com

>> Evolution of Dance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0b
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    AS PUBLISHED IN THE

       ODESSA AMERICAN,

    WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12,

          2007, PAGE 1B

   BY VERONICA SANDATE
       vsandate@oaoa.com

     Gone are the days of pink tutus, lace, bobby pins and black leotards.
In their place are worn sneakers, black sweatpants or basketball shorts.
     Many piqué turns ago, it was very common to see a man in a dance class.
But chassé inside any Odessa dance studio today, and you’re more likely to see a classroom filled with giggling girls than rambunctious little boys.
     But come on the right night, to the right class, and you might be surprised to find boys dominating the dance floor.

     Nine-year-old Tyce Talbott has been dancing at his mother’s dance  studio in Odessa since he could walk. And he says he has no