Dance for pre-school children has come a long way in recent years and studies are now regularly being published about the health, developmental and social benefits of dance for toddlers and pre-schoolers. But why should parents choose Dance over other activities?
Having taught dance for over 35 years I can honestly say that the classes I concentrate on the most are the toddlers and pre-schoolers! Pupils are challenging one minute then brilliant fun the next, they are totally sweet then really difficult within the same 60 seconds, their minds work at 100 miles an hour and teachers have to work really hard to keep a class on track
Some children come into classes very shy and retiring, clinging to parents’ legs and cry when their parent leaves them in this strange place with a strange lady……however nice she might be. To these parents I always say ‘disappear out the room quickly, listen at the door if you are concerned, but 9 times out of 10 your child will settle down and get on with the joy of learning dance in their new surroundings. The longer you remain, the longer they will take to settle. It may take a few weeks of trying, but they will settle and start to enjoy classes’.
I use an example very often to parents of a 16 (almost 17) year old I currently teach. She came to me aged 4, was very quiet and retiring, wouldn’t take part in her first show despite the lure of a pale blue sequined tutu……now, 12 years later she is one of my most confident performing dancers – she acts, sings, dances and needs absolutely no encouragement to take to the stage. Dance gives children that confidence. Every time they master a new skill they achieve a sense of accomplishment, the longer it takes to master then the greater the sense of achievement, this impacts on their levels of self-belief and these stepping stones are the building block of their confidence. This confidence building starts in pre-school dance classes.
Then there’s the opposite. A child that runs into the room, already confident, wants to tell you their life story without taking a breath, whilst running around in circles, raring to go. Needing to burn off energy, often followed by a parent desperately trying to keep up with them. These children give teachers a different challenge – they aren’t crying that Mum or Dad’s gone – they haven’t even noticed! A good dance teacher will employ this child’s mind and energy with learning to jump like Tigger, run like a Disney princess, dance like a fairy, or gallop like a unicorn. This child has no fear, but they need occupation, their limbs need to operate with control. Through exercises in dance classes created with story-telling and imagination, these children learn co-ordination, muscle development, balance and concentration. One such girl, walked through my door when she was 4 years old. She was a “mighty girl”, full of determination and attitude. She is now 13 and a co-ordinated, articulate, clever and witty young lady. She works hard in her dancing classes and is a pleasure to teach.
It is of course not right to generalise as all children are unique and should be treated as such. There are lots of things to learn in dance which help children as they grow up and develop and I have touched on just a few. Dance gives - confidence, self-belief, self-worth, co-ordination, concentration, muscle tone, self-control, self-discipline, expectation setting, team work, lefts and rights and counting……………but I haven’t touched on balance, spacial awareness, posture, musicality and memory, all of which are started in the pre-school years but are further developed in primary school aged children……….but that's for another day…
Fiona Henderson
Principal and Artistic Director
(first published in Peebles Life)
