Top 10 reasons for Dance Training

 Health and fitness 

In this age of electronics, children spend hours each day sitting in front of the TV, computer, and other electronic media.  Children don’t go outside and run and play the way they used to. Creative dance and other forms of dance training offer an excellent way of getting children moving. This improves their overall health and fitness.

Sensory awareness

Dance training offers a wide variety of sensory experiences, which enhances children’s sensory awareness.  Dancing incorporates many of the senses, including visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic senses.

Balance & flexibility

In addition to improving health and fitness, dance training also increases balance and flexibility.  For young children, dance offers ample opportunity to hop, bound, run, dive, leap, jump, turn, kick, and stretch.  While the movements become more refined as the dancer progresses, the training continues to offer experiences that improve their balance and flexibility.

Communication and listening skills

Children learn better communication and listening skills while in dance training.  In addition to listening to the music, they must listen to their teachers.  They also learn to communicate better, both with their words and with their bodies.

Pre academic skills

Dance training is a perfect way to introduce a child to a classroom atmosphere.  It is a playful environment for them to learn important skills that they will need later on in school.  They must learn to listen, follow directions, take turns, and interact with others. 

Social development

Learning appropriate social skills is another valuable lesson found in dance training.  Children learn how to take turns and interact appropriately with others.  They are able to move around and express themselves creatively, while also learning to become a part of a larger group.

Self esteem

A child’s self-esteem increases as they learn more and develop new skills in their dance training.

Creativity

Dance is a form of art, and as with all art, it offers endless opportunities for self expression and creativity.

Special Needs

Children with special needs also benefit from dance training.  Regardless of their physical, mental, or emotional ability, they can participate at their own level.  This gives them a sense of belonging to a group and a chance to experience the joy of music and dance.

FUN

And last but not least, Dance and dance training is FUN!

For an exceptional book on ballet

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Why Creative Dance?

Every person can learn from dancing, and every child deserves the opportunity to dance. For babies and toddlers, creative movement offers a range of experiences that facilitate natural, easy play and proper development of alignment, neurological coordination and a fundamental exploration of concepts that form the building blocks for future learning. Creative movement in a creative dance setting can help to provide an essential educational experience. Through movement, songs, games and rhymes, children flex their muscles as they gain strength and endurance, while they grow emotionally and cognitively as well.

It's recommended that children be involved in a regular creative dance class for several reasons.  First, they will get to know the teacher and their classmates. They will have the chance to build on the conceptual vocabulary worked with in previous weeks and gain a greater understanding of the material. Consistency, repetition and the affirmation it affords will provide your child with a better foundation for their own creativity both in and out of class. 

A few of the benefits of Creative Dance includes:

- Increased body awareness
- Improved alignment, flexibility and neurological patterning
- Emotional and social growth and development
- Greater self-esteem
- Language and listening skills are enhanced
- Beginning understanding of academics such as math, reading, spelling and science
- Approaches 'classroom skills' necessary for school experiences, such as taking turns, following directions, listening, sharing and communicating needs and feelings
- Develops an early creative spark in individuals and groups 

BODY AWARENESS: The first step toward developing internal control and self-discipline is in controlling one’s own body. Body awareness is an essential part of becoming aware of our feelings which exist in our minds AND bodies. When we feel angry or excited, we feel it in our whole self. Body awareness is also important in the development of spatial orientation. Children who do not have a good perception of the space of their own bodies may frequently misjudge distances or bump into things. Body awareness also helps with development of motor skills. Creative dance activities focus on body awareness, motor fitness, rhythmic skill, strength, flexibility, coordination, endurance, and physical vitality. 

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL GROWTH: Creative dance is a tremendous learning modality for the individual, but something amazing happens when children dance together.  They begin to embrace new ideas that foster community building and social connections. Experiences in creative dance can help children respect the working space of others, as they learn about 'personal space' and 'shared space.' Children also learn to recognize, appreciate and respect differences in the people they come in contact with.  Children learn and respect the fact that all bodies come in various sizes and shapes. They also learn to respect these differences in their peers.

SELF-ESTEEM: Perhaps the GREATEST benefit of creative dance is self-esteem. As children learn more and develop new skills, their self-esteem increases.

LANGUAGE: Cognitive learning is stimulated by movement. Research shows that the right hemisphere of the brain (sensing and feeling side) functions through activities such as music, art and creativity. The left hemisphere organizes sequential and logical skills such as language and speech. Both sides of the brain must be developed during the critical learning periods in early childhood because of the cross referencing that occurs. When children are engaged in creative dance, they are involved in activities that will increase their memory and ability to communicate. 

CONCENTRATION: Self-control is enhanced in creative dance by the capacity to concentrate and focus. Children must learn what it feels like to concentrate. Once children learn what focusing feels like, it can be a frame of reference for other activities where concentration is more difficult to achieve. Concentration is essential in creating an environment for learning in the classroom.


SPECIAL NEEDS: Children with special needs benefit from creative dance and creative movement because they can participate at their own level and ability. Children with special needs can feel a sense of belonging to a group and experience the joy of learning.

Creative dance offers all children tools for learning for a lifetime.

Creative Movement

Music has many benefits. Not only does it touch people's souls, it also shapes growing minds. Studies have shown that when children sing or play music they become better readers, thinkers and learners. Music can be crucial to children's learning. Creative movement and dance can also be used to enhance learning. It is a fun way for children to explore movement through music, develop physical skills, channel energy, stimulate imagination and promote creativity. Creative movement uses body actions to: communicate an image, an idea, or a feeling.

Children learn about their bodies, the space around them, and each other through movement. Creative movement activities should encourage all children to participate. Both boys and girls enjoy creative movement classes. Even children with communication, sensory, developmental or physical challenges can benefit from creative movement.

I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand!
Confucious

Creative Movement activities can be used to enhance all areas of learning and growth. It helps the children to understand themselves and their relationship with the world. Many additional benefits can come from creative movement.  Some of the benefits include improved development, sensory awareness, improved social skills, better health and fitness, increased memory and communication, increased concentration and self esteem.

DEVELOPMENT: Movement is a natural form of communication.  Children of all ages love to move. Even an infant responds to the sounds with motion, such as swaying, rocking, clapping, or kicking his feet. Developing that natural creativity depends on early influences.  Creative movement enhances development of motor skills such as creeping, walking, jumping, leaping, stretching, bending, twisting, shaking, etc.   Stability and balance are also improved when children are provided with creative movement opportunities. 

SENSORY AWARENESS: Creative movement enhances sensory awareness.  The kinesthetic sense is increased as children move and feel their body.  Images that they see and create engage the visual senses.  Auditory senses are stimulated with music and sounds.  And Tactile sense is used when moving with bare feet or swirling a scarf.  This multitude of sensory experiences helps children to appreciate the beauty in nature, art, literature, and everyday living.

SOCIAL SKILLS: Creative movement is rich with opportunities to develop social skills skills successfully. It encourages an interactive environment where children share space as they explore movement together. They move their own way and gradually learn to observe the movement of others. Soon, the idea of creating movements together becomes appealing.

HEALTH & FITNESS: Children need a variety of movement experiences to become coordinated and agile. Current research shows an alarming trend of a lower level of movement in children. Creative movement classes are important.  Opportunities for movement activities contribute to children's overall health and fitness level. 

CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR: Children will always move! Creative movement gives children the opportunity to move and relieve tension in an acceptable way.  Children become more capable of determining what kind of movement is appropriate for different situations. It also helps children gain more experience in concentrating, and develops higher levels of awareness of themselves and others.

SELF-ESTEEM: Perhaps the GREATEST benefit of creative movement is self-esteem. As children learn more and develop new skills, their self-esteem increases.

Dance to Health is a great manual for using creative movement with special needs children.  Click Here!
   Click Here!

All children, regardless of age, developmental stage, or ability level can benefit from creative movement.  It provides many benefits, and best of all, it is FUN! 

The Nutcracker Ballet

Ballet Midwest presents

The Nutcracker Ballet 

December 9th, 10th, & 11th

 

Topeka Performing Arts Center

Topeka, KS