Dance Movie for a 3-Yr Old BOY

Updated on March 13, 2012
K.C. asks from Virginia Beach, VA
20 answers

I am looking for suggestions for a dance movie for my 3-yr old son. He just started a Tap/Hip Hop class and loves it. He loves music, dancing, dressing up and performing. We don't have TV, only do the occasional movie. What can you suggest for him? It's totally fine if it's geared primarily toward girls, but I'd love to show him something with boys dancing. Even a little break dancing would be great. Trying to stay away from the High School/Love Drama/Competition type movies. He has a "recital" at the end of May so it would be nice to give him an idea of what this is and what to expect. Thanks in advance!

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E.S.

answers from Boston on

Hi! You can't go wrong with a Fred Astaire or Gene Kelley movie. Some are more grown up than others. For a three yr old Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and Anchors Aweigh (he dances with Jerry the Mouse!) would be great. Fred Astaire dances on the ceiling in Royal Wedding. And don't forget the raucous Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We love musicals here, I can go on all day... Maybe there are Youtube movie bits without having to watch the whole movie?

5 moms found this helpful
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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

On Hulu... there is a series called "Legion of Extraordinary Dancers" LXD.

One or two might be inappropriate (they're short, around 5-10 minutes each, so preview)... but the others are PHENOM. Added: Okay, looks like 2 more "seasons" have come out. I've only seen the first season (yay! 2 more!). Do preview them, but my dancer son and I (ex break/ flow/ fire.. I'm all old and gimpy these days) have watched all of the first season. The one I'm thinking of off the top of my head that may be inappropriate is the Robot one (he's in a hospital, doesn't have a heart, and is kind of creepy in parts).

Break, PopnLock, HipHop, Flow, Robotic, Ballet, Swing, Martial, Tap.... an absolutely brilliant amalgamation of styles.

http://www.hulu.com/the-lxd

Youtube is another place where dancers showcase their skills. Pumped Up Kicks has a super fun half robotic half flow dancer... and there are tons more if you search.

3 moms found this helpful

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K.N.

answers from Boston on

Riverdance.

Too bad there's not a "G" version of Billy Elliot!

4 moms found this helpful
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B.

answers from Augusta on

anything Gene Kelly .
My 7 yr old son loves Gene Kelly , he is also in dance.

2 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Shirley Temple, Fred Astair Movies.. Singing in the rain..

Michael Jackson Thriller video

Some of the Glee performance.. Pre watch them and write down the time for the dances you feel are appropriate.

2 moms found this helpful
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L.R.

answers from Washington DC on

Gene Kelly would be great but your son's pretty young and will snooze through everything but the dance numbers. You can fast forward...but also remember that it doesn't have to be a story-based movie you show him!

Look for videos of performances by the tap master Savion Glover -- young, very hip, very gifted. Also get a video of the stage show "Stomp," which is dancing punctuated by using things like trash can lids etc. to make plenty of rhythm! I also strongly recommend the ballet "Tales of Beatrix Potter" for a child his age, boy or girl, especially if you read him Beatrix Potter animal stories before he sees it. (It can be hard to find but it may be available used online.) And the TV show "Angelina Ballerina," the more recent version rather than the older one, has several boy characters who do different types of dance; plus the program uses real kid dancers as well as adult dancers in short pieces showing many different types of dance (and boys and men are among the dancers). Try the web site at www.angelinaballerina.com. and look for a brief video called "Hip Hop Kid" where a new boy comes to school and is a hip hop dancer....

I hope your son will continue in whatever forms of dance he grows to love. Let him try others as he gets older. My daughter has danced since she was almost 3 and I can tell you from watching boys at her studios that boy dancers have a LOT of fun -- some dance studios run all-boy classes taught by men to get boys into dancing as they get older, so they don't assume that ballet is for girls only. And there are plenty of mixed boy and girl kids' hip-hop or tap classes out there.

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T.H.

answers from Norfolk on

go to so you think you can dance shows from seasons before on the web and watch some of those. they have group dances solos and couples. they do most known genres. the season is also about to start in the next few weeks. i love the show with all the different kinds of dancing andsuch...never getsboring. you tube will have some of the most popular but probably notmany of the group dances.

if you go to busch gardens then go to the show in ireland..it's like riverdance.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.E.

answers from Washington DC on

Have you tried happy feet? It's penguins, but they are awesome, there is some romance, some intrigue, and I think at one point he ends up in a zoo,. I enjoyed it, but it has been a few years.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.O.

answers from Atlanta on

If you could somehow cut out/fast forward throuh the sexual parts of Center Stage - the boys dancing in there are great. I love the pop/up tempo number. My boys really like watching the dancing in that movie. Perhaps you tube some of the dance numbers. I also like the dancing in the song" A Night To Remember" from High School Musical 3.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.G.

answers from Detroit on

There is a sesame street video called "zoe's dance moves" where elmo and zoe take a class from paula abdul and learn hip hop, ballet, asian, african dancing, etc. it's about 40 min or so.

1 mom found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from New York on

My son loves to dance too. Fresh Beat Band is a series on T.V. and my son enjoys that a lot. You don't have a t.v....for real??? Anyway, my son also enjoys watching break dancing videos on the internet. There is a great on that has gone viral and it's done in slow motion.

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S.O.

answers from Washington DC on

My favorite dance movie is "Simply Ballroom" (or Strictly Ballroom, didn't check netflix first, but you should be able to find it). Don't know what kind of dance your son is interested in, but this movie is really fun. Highlights subjects that are a little subtle for a youngster (the girl is one cultural group, the guy is another, there's romance and a "follow your heart" theme). It shows people of all ages dancing, including little kids, and it really is a lot of fun. Hope you like it!

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J.K.

answers from Washington DC on

I bet he would LOVE the Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance. It is Irish Dancing but very cool music and lots of men dancing. My kids LOVE this- and it tells a sort of story that is easy for him to get at his age.
I bet you can you tube some of it, but we bought the video for like 10$ and have watched it a million times.

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A.G.

answers from Boston on

See if the library has videos to check out

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

How fun for him. My 5 yr. old loves to dance and repeatedly asks the dance teacher when he can start classes. She wants to wait until the fall due to his behavior issues. We went to a 50's Friday night and he broke danced the whole night away over in a corner. I think he is definitely going to be in tap/ballet combo this Fall. She doesn't let the kids start hip hop until the are 7 so he will look forward to that.

We like to watch several shows on Nick and Disney that do show guys dancing. The girls love the barbie movies, they are so awesome and teach good morals too.

The 12 Dancing Princesses
Nutcracker
Swan Lake

I think The Imagination Movers, Fresh Beat Band, etc...would be fun shows for him to watch. I enjoy watching them and that's where my little guy gets his ideas.

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R.F.

answers from Dallas on

Can you You Tube the dance only scenes from Footloose? The story line would probably be too boring for him, but fun for you!

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D.K.

answers from Washington DC on

Maybe Shirley Temple? It might be fun to watch another youngn dancing.

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M.R.

answers from Charlottesville on

I know you said you're trying to avoid high school type movies. The movie "Save the Last Dance" does have a lot of drama and high school stuff, but also a lot of hip hop dancing from one of the main male characters. There's definitely some mature themes and a little bit of violence, but maybe you could just show him the dance scenes? The dancing parts are this guy trying to teach a ballet dancer how to dance hip-hop, which might appeal to him.

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N.M.

answers from New York on

Riverdance and even better Lord of the Dance. My son LOVED Michael Flately between the ages of 2-4. He used to dance along with the movie, it helped get his energy out. Now he has a great kick which comes in handy in karate.

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N.B.

answers from Washington DC on

Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo has boys dancing and Step Up (All three). That's all I can thing of this early in the morning.

Unless you want to go real old school and get Gene Kelly (Or Fred Astaire) movies. Gene has one on Youtube where he's tap dancing on rollerskates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aus1PA5-SyI (Awesome!)

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