Benefits of Dance for Children

It's that time of year again & parents are figuring out what extra-curricular activities/lessons they'd like their children to be involved in. Consider dance lessons for your son or daughter. 

Dance education has many benefits:

• Physical. Dance helps to increase flexibility, improve circulation, tone the body and develop muscles. It also improves posture, balance and coordination.
• Intellectual. Dance enriches learning through a variety of perspectives, both traditional and experimental.
• Esthetic. Dance awakens consciousness of beauty, lending new meaning to movement and form.
• Cultural. Dance increases understanding and appreciation for forms, choices and rituals from a broad range of historical, social and cultural perspectives.
• Emotional. Dance helps develop self-confidence and self-esteem in a stimulating environment.
• Social. Dance improves sensitivity, understanding, appreciation and consideration for others, both for their similarities and differences.

Dance Engages the Whole Person

Although dance can be great exercise, it is primarily an art form and an esthetic expression of mind and body. Dance as an art form has three dimensions:

• Learning. Like other art forms, dance helps us to perceive and communicate who we are.
• Knowledge. Dance has its own body of knowledge which can be shared, passed on and enlarged.
• Experience. The very nature of dance is best discovered through experiencing it. In this it is almost unique as an art form, and very special as part of a child's education.

By combining these three dimensions, dance engages the whole person in simultaneously moving, thinking and feeling. Thus dance education can enhance your child's physical, mental and emotional development. This holds for boys and girls alike.

Be sure to check out Dance Lessons from some of our sponsors, Studio Dance Centre & Raising the Barre.