By Mrs. Mandy
Enrolling your son or daughter into a dance class in America is regularly seen as a standard stepping-stone of life. Some play soccer, some try baseball, but many young children take dance as an extra-curricular activity during their youth at least once. The importance of dance in a child’s life can commonly be undervalued, and to those parents who have never taken dance class before this is completely understandable. Without knowing how dance class changes lives, one may be unsure why the investment of time, money, and energy is crucial to their child’s development.
Dance is a great form of physical activity and exercise.
In dance class you leap, jump, turn, step, kick, thrust, sway and more. The energy of a dance class cannot be compared to any other activity that requires movement. Dancers will sometimes execute over 1,000 steps in a 3-minute routine! This builds endurance, improves blood circulation and helps to improve overall health.
Dance provides social interaction and teamwork.
Attending a dance class is a great way to make new friends, learn social skills such as meeting new people and introducing yourself, and teaches you to work together with all kinds of different personalities.
Dance stimulates the mind and gives children something to look forward to.
Dance is more than just physical activity, as the movement begins as a signal from the brain that is then sent to the limbs to create magic! Young children are still learning how to move their fingers and toes, and move with grace. Dance class helps them find those body parts and use them to the best of their abilities. Dance also gives children something to think about throughout the week: their routine, their friends, what they’re going to accomplish next week, their performances, etc.
Dance fosters creativity.
Children that have the opportunity to express themselves through movement tap into their own creative space and learn to think differently, analytically, and explore new things. Dancers are extremely innovative and are always dreaming of new and exciting ideas.
Dance generates good health habits.
Children that exercise frequently will create a necessity for movement and practicing good health in their development. Children enrolled in dance also spend more time being active and less time on devices or watching TV.
Dance gives a child somewhere to relieve excess energy.
Children that struggle with behavior at home sometimes just need an outlet to express themselves and let out the extra energy they are holding in. Dance class gives children a place to safely and comfortably leave it all on the dance floor.
Dance improves memory and mental capacity that will show in succeeding through schoolwork.
Dancers have a lot to remember! Some examples: proper technique, how to count the music, how to stay on beat while dancing with the music, proper positioning, formations, performance quality, remembering all the moves and choreography, and much, much more! Learning to keep up with these demands helps children to absorb more information at one time and recall that information on demand when it’s needed. This in turn transfers to their capability to succeed in other subjects such as math, writing, reading, etc.
Dance teaches children to move safely and gracefully in life.
Dance increases coordination skills and provides students with the capability to assess their position in the room relative to others around them. Dancers tend to be more aware of their surroundings, their safety, and move through life with good posture and confidence in their stride.
Dance teaches children to believe in themselves.
Dance gives children exposure to many uncomfortable situations at a young age: stretching past their limits, setting large goals, performing in front of an audience, demonstrating in front of their peers, and more. By allowing children to experience these moments at a young age, they are obtaining the proper coping skills for uncomfortable situations in the future. They are learning that they are worthy, capable, and have the ability to attack anything that they want to achieve head on with the outcome of success.
Dance teaches that respect is essential.
Dance teachers expect their students to hold themselves to a higher standard than the regular public. Respect is not an option, it is a necessity. Dancers respect their Instructors and their time, energy, and dedication to teaching an informative and constructive class. Dancers respect others in their class who are there to learn and listen, applaud them on their advances, and pick them up when they fall short. Dancers respect themselves and their commitment to growth. Dancers respect the artform of dance and work every day to contribute to the beauty of movement.
Dancing is empowering and creates confidence.
Attending dance classes makes you feel good about yourself! Children discover what they are capable of and begin to walk through life confidently that they can do anything they put their mind to. They become more in tune with their bodies, how they move, and how beautiful they are inside and out.
Dance teaches discipline.
There are tough days and fun days in dance. Some days we are off our center and cannot execute a proper turn, and some days we are on fire and lighting up the room. Dancers understand the importance of practice and commitment to achieve their goals, and do not despair when they have a “bad dance day” because tomorrow is another day to try again.
Dance teaches good communication and collaboration.
Dancers are always searching for the best way to solve problems, stay on track, and express their viewpoints and ideas effectively. Working as a team with classmates creates new challenges every day, especially when you sometimes are communicating with your bodies and not your words! Dancers are a different breed of human who have learned how to tap into their kinesthetic senses to be successful in communication and collaboration through movement.
Dance teaches youth to be humble and to never give up.
Dancers fail on a regular basis. Certain skills and technique are unattainable until a dancer has achieved stronger muscles, proper alignment, and practiced the move over and over. This defeat builds an eagerness to conquer what we couldn’t do the day before. Dancers also learn that there will always be someone who is better than you at the task at hand, but that we can work every day to be better than who we were yesterday and that is enough.
These are just some of the benefits of dance. The list could go on and on, but better than reading about it, why not experience it? Don’t miss your chance to dance today at The Movement Dance Experience in Las Vegas, where we make great people who just happen to become great dancers. Dance is the vehicle we use to create great people. Come see how we are different!
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