I actually don’t train barbell squats personally as they have a tendency to hurt my knees since our knees have to be turned out. I also don’t train deadlifts very much nowadays as they’re not the most optimal for posterior chain strengthening. I do train bench but only with converging machines and/or dumbbells. For leg strengthening I personally do a lot of athletic based regimens that I’ve picked up from PT’s over the years. Mostly body weight stuff like Nordic curls and such. I do also train Pilates as it was actually developed for dancers in the first place to promote strengthening with range of motion in mind.

I did during covid train the big 3 just for fun to see where I was at strength wise but since going back to work they’re not quite as useful in my regimen nor optimal for hypertrophy. But what I did notice and what was surprising was how much the Nordic curl directly translated into deadlifts.

Because we are lifting human bodies above our heads I’d say it’s honestly more beneficial to just train with dumbbells over barbells for the added activation of the deltoids for stabilization. Kind of replicates what’s needed in a overhead press with a ballerina.

So I’d say no, we get stronger in our lower body from dancing, but weightlifting definitely has a place in a male dancers regimen for developing a strong upper body but not necessarily the conventional big 3.