When you sign your child up for Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, or another style of
dance, the rewards are many. Dance instruction teaches children
coordination, flexibility, and how to move well. Dance students make lots of
friends in dance class. Seeing your child thrive as a dance student is very
rewarding. Some of the benefits of dance class are less obvious but just as
important.
Dance lessons give children self-confidence. Having beautiful posture with
your head lifted, shoulders back and tummy in not only makes you look
amazing, it also makes you feel good about yourself. In dance class you
learn that the space you take up is valuable. Dancers learn to move
through space with purpose. Upon entering a room dancers light up the
space with a presence that exudes confidence.
Children learn to support others in dance class. In preparing for a
performance dancers learn that they are only as strong as the weakest
among them. Our Ballet I students spent many rehearsals learning Dance
Of the Sugar Plum Fairy to be performed at the “Snowflake Festival” at the
Tarzana Community and Cultural Center. Throughout the dance the
children coordinate their moves to the movement of the other dancers.
Each dancer is responsible for having proper form so that they can move
together as one unit. When holding hands in a chain everyone has to pay
attention. If one dancer loses their balance the entire line of ballerinas
topples over. To keep this from happening each dancer is careful to
balance and do the correct steps which support the dancer standing next to
them. Dancing teaches children that cooperation and caring about others
leads to harmony in the dance. The same goes for life. When we care
about others doing well, we thrive in the harmony that is created.
At Dancetime by Stephanie Studio children learn that they are safe to
express themselves through dance. Dance class is a sacred place where
students can leave behind the cares of the day. Students learn to focus on
the movement and stay in the present. Dancing celebrates positive
expression that can be healing to children struggling with fear or anxiety.
One of my students recently came to class as if they had a dark
thundercloud above them. When I asked what was wrong, she said that
she had a bad day at school and had to miss recess because she didn’t
finish her homework. In dance class we can take the focus off our
problems and shift our way of thinking. At the end of the ballet class, I
asked my student if she thought she would have a better day at school
tomorrow. She said that she was going to go home and do all her
homework and that yes, tomorrow would be a better day!
Dance class is more than just dance class. It teaches children to be
confident, compassionate, centered, and focused. All of these skills are
necessary for dancing and for life!