Whenever you turn your head, do you find your kid swaying to the music coming from the TV? Sometimes, it seems like they have ants crawling in their pants. Why not sign them up for dance classes? This is the time to nurture their talent, so that in the future they can do something good with it. Today, there are various types of dance classes available for kids according to their age. From classic to contemporary, ballet, hip hop and many other styles, kids can pick any one or more that suits their style and taste.
Apart from expressing themselves, dance has now become a unique way that allows children’s imagination to fly. It helps them develop confidence and style, as well as discipline. So, next time you see your kid dancing quietly in the corner, turn the music up and encourage them to show their moves.
Following are a few basic dance types that will help your kid build a solid base, before they can move to the advance moves:
1. Ballet
Ballet is the only dance that teaches kids grace, strength and balance. For beginners, ballet involves alignment of the body and posture that allows them to learn different positions. This helps them develop strong muscles and at an early age, ballet teaches kids on how to bend flexibly. This dance type is best for kids who are 6 years old and above.
2. Creative Movement
Creative movement is the stepping stone of “how to dance”. The moment a toddler develops basic motor skills, he or she can be enrolled in this dance class. You can sign them as early as when they are 14 months old. Creative movement focuses more on the toddler’s expressive, movement and listening skills. They are introduced to various dance types but just the beginner steps. From hip hop to ballet, and tap and many other dance forms, their movement and coordination is checked to see, which dance type they can catch up to easily. This dance type includes parent’s involvement, so that the little ones can move freely in their element, while being encouraged by their parents. Creative movement is sort of a building block that allows toddlers to discover their potential.
3. Hip Hop
Hip hop is considered as the most energetic dance type, which is more about expressing one’s feelings. This dance focuses on one thing and one thing only: the rhythm. One of the best things about this dance is that it has a lot of room for creativity. Kids can add a personal touch in their moves and bring something new to the dance floor.
4. Tap
Tap dance is a fun and creative way of dancing. It involves a combination of basic ballet moves and tap that works with background music and the sound of the shoes tapping.
5. Jazz
Jazz constitutes of various dance styles such as lyrical, contemporary and more. It uses exciting pop music to make the dance upbeat, which involves turns, leaps and high kicks. Jazz requires agile feet work that comes best with ballet.
6. Contemporary
The three prominent dance types that make up contemporary are lyrical, jazz and ballet. It involves modern dance techniques that are quite reflective and expressive. Contemporary usually involves interpretation of an untold story that goes in coordination with the song.
These six dance types will help your kid develop his or her own style. Once they get the body movement and foot work down, they will be able to excel at the one dance type they like the most.
