The sexualisation of children in dance is an issue that has been growing exponentially in Western culture. The lack of regulation, combined with the influence of the media, has seen hypersexualisation of children’s dance spiral out of control in Australia in recent years. 

One of the last dance eisteddfods (competitive festivals) I attended pre-Covid in Brisbane, Queensland (2019) demonstrated one extreme example of how the industry is failing to protect child dancers. Two reputable full-time dance studios became the talk of this event, leaving audience members, teachers and competitors shocked by their sex-saturated performances.

The worst performance, which my students and I witnessed from side stage, was centred heavily on themes of BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism) and romance mixed with sexual violence. Children as young as nine years old performed inappropriate choreography, often while partnered with older teenage boys. These minors were dressed in revealing costumes and performed using chains, chairs and whips.

The second studio’s performance also incorporated the use of strongly sexualised choreography, costuming and explicit themes in song lyrics. Both routines were highly awarded in this section, and the studios received no consequences for placing minors in an overtly sexual display in front of hundreds of parents and siblings.

This experience left me shattered. Dance was supposed to be an activity for children to enjoy creative expression, fun and fitness. When did the sport I love the most become an avenue for exploitation – and how did it get to this point?

The consequences of sexualisation for children

The sexualisation of children in dance is part of a wider cultural issue that emphasises sexuality for children in ways that are not age appropriate. International Centre on Sexual Exploitation director Hayley McNamara said the effects of sexualisation for children were detrimental to their wellbeing.

“The sexualization of children in dance is harmful as it not only contributes to a wider culture that’s comfortable with sexualizing children, but it also teaches children to self-objectify themselves sexually,” she said.

“We know from extensive research that sexual objectification is associated with worsened mental health, academic performance, confidence, and more. 

“Dance, for minors, should promote healthy, age-appropriate artistic and athletic expression – not sexualization.”

I discussed this issue with DA:NCE founder Mary Bawden in 2021. Mary said that sexualized dance culture also encouraged children to upload inappropriate videos of themselves to social media, which exposes them to advances from predators.

“I really want to emphasise the connection between the public health issue of pornography and hypersexualized children’s dance,” she said.  

“It also harms kids who aren’t in dance who continue to watch it, because it grooms them for the same thing.”

Contributing factors 

Society has become desensitised to seeing children dance in ways that are not age-appropriate because it has become normalised in competitive and professional contexts. Studios, dance instructors, parents and children have been groomed by the media, dance stars, pornography and competitive dance to encourage younger and younger students to perform in ways that are detrimental to their wellbeing.

Dance Life is an Australian-based documentary which debuted on Amazon Prime in 2024, following dancers aged 17-19 years old on their journey to becoming a professional dancer at Brent Street, Australia’s premier dance academy.

The normalisation of sexuality in the dance industry is highlighted in the very first episode when an adult male instructor is addressing a class of young females.

“Who is, like, afraid or uncomfortable with being sexy?” he asks the class. One student slowly raises her hand.

“This is a class where I need you to embrace everything you are as a woman – you’re embracing your figure, you’re embracing your sexualness, and realistically, what is going to push you further and make you a successful dancer, is that,” he says.

This interaction demonstrates the attitudes that have contributed to the growing issue of child sexualisation in dance. The idea that sexiness equals success in the industry is having a trickle-down effect on younger generations, and as a result choreography, costumes and song choices are becoming more sexualised for very young children. 

Mary Bawden said harmful attitudes and practices of teachers and studios were major causes for a child being sexually exploited in the dance industry.

“Children are taught to be obedient – in the dance classroom we teach them how to stand at the barre and how to do a combination, and it’s their job to copy and obey,” she said.

“So how in the world are they supposed to then take those instructions, and know which ones are healthy and which ones are unhealthy?” 

“I would have to point my finger at adults, because a child is not in a position to say, ‘you crossed a boundary when you asked me to do this,’.”

Another contributing factor is that many competitions create an environment that welcomes and encourages the sexualisation of children on stage. Routines that push these boundaries are highly celebrated and awarded by adjudicators, which reinforces sexiness as the indicator of a high-level performance. This sends the message to students, teachers, studios and parents that hypersexualised routines are something to be strived for.

How is Australia addressing the issue?

Australian law currently requires studios to pass an annual risk assessment review and ensure all staff hold a Working with Children check, however ground level operations are otherwise largely unregulated. 

Ausdance Queensland executive director Julie Englefield said the sexualisation of children in the dance industry was a broader issue with general child safety that could only be addressed by child safety regulators.

In Queensland, child safety regulation is gradually being tightened up, and the remaining Australian states are expected to follow.

“As we speak, legislation is being introduced into Queensland parliament to increase the compliance requirements for child safety in every organisation and activity that works with children,” Julie said.

“Once this legislation passes, every single organisation working with children will have to demonstrate compliance with 10 child safe standards, which are based on the National Principals of Child Safe Organisations.

“It will be a game changer … it means that anything that is related to the sexualisation of children will be prevented before it even starts.”

Julie said the first step to stopping the sexualisation of children in dance is for general child safety laws to improve, and the next step is looking at what the dance sector can do to change people’s behaviour.

As the peak body for dance in Australia, Ausdance is currently piloting a Safe Dance for Kids program, which will support instructors, parents and dancers to adopt child-safe approaches around costuming, mental health, choreography, physical safety, self esteem, cyber safety, performance safety and more. This program will support the new legislation by promoting the 10 National Principals of Child Safe Organisations outlined on the Australian Human Rights Commission website.

What can be done in the meantime?

Eisteddfods

Julie Englefield encourages eisteddfod organisers to promote child safe environments by enforcing a clear code of conduct, banning the use of inappropriate costuming, choreography and lyrics. 

“Eisteddfods are slightly different because they are completely independent organisations, but they will have to comply with the 10 child safe standards,” she said.

“What we are pushing for is a criteria for entry. Have an adjudication message which is very clear, that if the code of conduct is broken the people won’t be judged.”

Studios and Educators

Julie said studios and educators should assess whether to send dancers to an eisteddfod based on their child safety policies and code of conduct in relation to the treatment of children and sexualisation of children.

“A responsible studio should look at an eisteddfod and say … ‘if you don’t have a code of conduct that disallows or prohibits sexualised costumes, music or moves, then we will not send our students to your competition’,” she said.

Teachers must also remember their responsibility to keep children safe and avoid putting their students in costumes and routines that objectify or sexualise them.

“If child safety is done well, teachers won’t make any decisions that impact the safety of the children,” she said.

Parents

Parents also need to protect their children by sending them to safe studios and eisteddfods with clear child protection policies and codes of conduct.

DA:NCE founder Mary Bawden said spreading education and awareness to parents is essential for creating a dance culture that is healthy and not harmful. 

“We need to make parents aware that they are the protective factor, and then we need to regulate adults who work with children with some standards,” she said.

Parents should also initiate discussions with their children to help them establish healthy boundaries.

“This is a very serious problem, and we’ve got to push back because it’s not going to go away,” Mary said.

“We’re going to solve it when we start defining it, talking about it, and taking action to prevent it.” 

While the sexualisation of children in the dance industry in Australia has been progressively worsening, the new child safety laws promise to reduce and eliminate the problem. 

My hope is that the rest of the world will one day follow Australia’s example and advocate against the exploitation of children in dance.

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Bio: Jamie Furness is an Australian journalist, dance acrobatics instructor, and former gymnastics coach who has been working with children since 2011. She lives in Brisbane, Australia with her family. Jamie has personally witnessed the problem of child sexualisation growing in her own 13 years as a competitive dancer and instructor.