A passion for dancing inspires Albany’s Lachlan McLean to kick off all boys dance classes at local academy

Albany born and raised performer Lachlan McLean started dancing at age seven, and hasn’t been able to keep his feet still since. His first class when he was in Year 1 at school inspired what he said he’s sure will be a lifelong love of performing on stage. “I’ve been dancing non-stop since I was a kid,” he said. “I just love it, everything about it.” The 22 year-old started his dance teaching journey at his home studio, Albany Academy of Dance in Centennial Park, when he was 17 in a workplace learning program run by his high school. He said teaching showed him another perspective of dance and allowed him to connect to the sport in new ways. “I loved teaching from the beginning as well,” McLean said. “I was lucky enough to be able to get started through workplace learning and it really just went from there for me.” The idea to start a boys only dance class was something McLean said Albany boys were keen to get on board with. “I’ve been dancing a long time and as I was getting older I wondered if there was a way I could help get more boys into dance,” he said. “I asked the academy if I could start a boys only class on top of my regular teaching and they said absolutely. “It’s great to see them coming back because it means we’re obviously doing something they’re excited about and that they feel happy coming to every week.” McLean now teaches three versions of the boys class for different age groups. The youngest students are in Year 3-5, the intermediate age group encompasses Year 6-9 and the oldest is for Year 10s and older. He said he takes pride in watching the boys gain confidence with each week as they make new friends and work hard to get their dance numbers ready for the academy’s end of year concert. “The main aspects are the social nature of it and the boys being able to have fun,” he said. “I definitely see them become a lot more comfortable in the boys classes, some of them are completely different kids. “They all really come out of their shells and have a lot of fun. “Seeing the boys come back every week and love it keeps me wanting to teach the class, it’s great to see them enjoying it and expressing themselves and being active. “It just shows how much they enjoy it and how much they get out of it.” The academy’s end of year performance shows off what each class has learnt throughout the year, and McLean said it takes on a different theme each year and the boys in his classes are often eager to contribute to his choice of songs for their numbers. “The boys always want to do something fun, all the kids do, so we try to pick something they’ll enjoy learning all year,” he said. Enrolments for Albany Academy of Dance’s 2025 classes are now open and McLean said he hoped more boys would consider starting dance, no matter their age or experience. “I would say I’m very passionate about teaching, it’s been such a great thing to be involved in and we definitely plan to keep it going in the future, and it’s so good to see the number of enrolments go up each year and more boys come into dance because of these classes,” he said. “I would say give it a go and see what happens, you never know how much you could love it.”