What Ballet Teaches Kids

Parents have their pick of numerous extracurricular activities. If you want your kids not just to have fun, but also to learn something valuable, consider signing them up for ballet lessons. Here’s what children’s ballet teaches kids.

The Value of Hard Work

At first glance, ballet looks dainty and cute, but as soon as you try it for yourself, you realize how physically and mentally challenging it is. Even children who pursue ballet as a casual hobby develop strength, flexibility and endurance. They quickly learn that when you work hard, you can achieve great things. Kids who stick with ballet often implement this work ethic in other areas of their lives.

The Payoff of Persistence

Attending your child’s ballet performances is incredibly rewarding. It gives you a chance to witness the outcome of your child’s determination. After a few months of taking children’s ballet lessons, your child will start to see their improvement as well. This teaches them that willpower and dedication are all you need to master a new skill.

The Importance of a Strong Foundation

As the first standardized form of dance in the Western world, ballet serves as the groundwork for numerous other dance styles, especially lyrical and contemporary. It’s also the foundation for pointe, the advanced derivative of ballet that most people think of when they picture ballerinas. Yet all great ballet dancers start at the barre, practicing their turnouts and leg extensions. If your child can master the basics, they will go far.

The Meaning of Discipline

Ballet is a formal dance style, with highly structured lessons and the goal of matching every dancer’s movements perfectly. This requires incredible mental focus, discipline and self-control. Students learn not to speak out of turn or disrespect the teacher. They also quickly discover that the rules are there to ensure everyone has a good time.

Be aware that while movies and TV shows often depict ballet teachers as cruel tyrants, this is rarely the case in real life. Expect your child’s instructor to garner mutual respect from everyone in the class and treat all students appropriately for their age and skill level.

A Sense of Self-Confidence

Many youngsters are shy and hesitant when they attend their first children’s ballet class, but as time goes by, they break out of their shell and gain newfound confidence. Your child’s self-assurance is further bolstered after each performance when parents and teachers offer much-deserved praise. The physical benefits of taking ballet – including toned muscles, increased flexibility and good posture – further enhance your child’s self-esteem.

The Power of Creativity

As with all performing arts, ballet gives your child an outlet for self-expression through movement. Give it a little time, and your child may begin choreographing their own dance routines.

8 Things Good Dancers Do to Learn New Choreography Faster

Is dance more than just a hobby? If you’re passionate about the performing arts, you may dream of putting on show-stopping performances and winning national dance competitions. The key to becoming an accomplished dancer is to master new moves quickly. Here are eight tricks good dancers use to learn choreography faster.

Practice at home.

The time you spend learning in dance class is not enough. If you truly want to gain momentum in your dancing, you should spend more time practicing at home. The best way to ingrain new choreography in your mind and muscles is to go over the steps right after class. If a particular movement is extra challenging for you, spend the most time on that.

Dance in front of a mirror.

While you eventually need to reach a point where you can dance without a mirror (after all, there won’t be one on stage), the mirror is your best friend when learning new choreography. Analyze your posture and movements to make sure you’re getting them right. Then, with repetition, it will become muscle memory.

Visualize the movements while listening to the music.

It’s even possible to practice choreography without moving your feet! Play the song on your headphones, close your eyes and envision the steps that go with each 8-count of the music. This will help you master the sequencing, which is critical to avoiding mistakes on stage.

Analyze videos of yourself dancing.

Set up a camera or ask a friend to videotape you practicing a dance. You can also play back videos from performances. Seeing yourself from another perspective can help you realize where to make improvements.

Seek one-on-one instruction.

If you miss a class or feel behind the other students, schedule an individual practice session with your teacher. The one-on-one time should help you grasp the choreography and catch up to the rest of the class.

Take injuries seriously.

While eager dancers never want to sit it out, the best dancers listen to their body and don’t push injuries too far. If you continue to dance on a twisted ankle or with shin splints, you may never fully heal. This could be detrimental to your dance career and lead to chronic pain. The moral of the story is if you’re injured, see a doctor and sit out the next few classes.

Learn more than one style of dance.

A well-rounded dancer tries multiple styles of dance, which complement each other in surprising ways. The poise and flexibility gained in ballet translate perfectly to contemporary/lyrical dance, and the rhythm and precision of tap can help hip-hop dancers.

Exercise outside of class.

Dancers are the ultimate combination of artist and athlete. You need strength, flexibility and endurance to succeed on the dance floor, so make strength training and conditioning a priority.