Small children in ballet class are learning to coordinate movement with music. It is a process of discovery like walking and then running. In fact, one exercise for younger dancers is learning to skip around a circle. It can be a challenge to coordinate the number of hops and alternating feet. The School at STEPS, a Broadway dance studio with a comprehensive children's division that ranges from toddlers through pre-professionals, builds classes for the youngest dancers, ages 2 to 6, around creative movement for body coordination, rhythmic awareness and imagination.
Research shows the relationship between dance lessons and gross motor skills development. As far back as the late 1960s, a study of 600 first to sixth graders found a clear difference in basic motor skills -- such as balancing, climbing, throwing, catching, bouncing, striking and dodging, between children taught with musical and rhythmic accompaniment, and those taught without. The skills of the musical learners were more advanced in every area. Dr. Len Kravitz, University of New Mexico professor of exercise science, cites those findings in a general paper evaluating the effects of music on exercise.
Dance lessons can cover the basic discipline of ballet, a rich and demanding study at every level. But there are programs for every type of ethnic dance that build confidence, foster multicultural understanding and turn out terrific dancers whether they are stepping or street dancing. Some popular dance forms kids may study include tap, jazz, modern, hip hop, West African, Bollywood, Broadway-theatrical, traditional Chinese and ballroom. The larger and more diverse the city you live in or near, the more opportunities to explore different dance forms your child will have.
At advanced levels, teens are taking lessons nearly every day, especially for pointe, which demands the same level of practice and conditioning as serious athletics. A good dance school is aware of the potential for injury as growth spurts and the rapid changes of adolescence throw balance and coordination off temporarily. Emotions may see-saw in the challenge of tougher lessons at a moment of diminished competence. The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science recommends that dancers be educated about healthy eating -- and that impact work in classes such as leaping and pointe, be modified to avoid injuries.