While railway modelling is a hobby that is mainly associated with boys and men, dancing, as both a hobby and a sport, experiences the opposite: Most dancers at Hildemors Dansesenter in Bergen are girls and women, because few boys and men choose to take up dancing.

The trend is said to be true across Norway, and the reason explained to me is that many boys and men feel shy and are sometimes teased if they admit they like to dance. Indeed, among the parents and grandparents present during my visit, the dads and granddads giggled a polite “no thank you” when asked to take part in my story for the newspaper. One dancing boy even told me that under no circumstances must he have his photo in the newspaper, because nobody at his school knows that he dances.

In jazz, street and hip-hop, being a solo girl is not a problem. However, if a girl wishes to do partner dances, she must often find a female partner. Meanwhile, a boy can pick and chose the dance partner that suits him best. This, the dance centre said, explains why the few boys and men that do dance tend to excel.

Photo credit: Britt Embry