Is Ballet Right For Your Child?



Does your child love to dance?  Does he or she start to move just hearing music, and want to keep dancing on and on, even leaping down the sidewalks?  Maybe its time for ballet!  But is the discipline of classical training right for your child?



A long-standing and honored rite-of-passage for girls, ballet lessons bring to mind a vivid pink picture of tiptoes, tutus and twirling.  Boys, too, can become intrigued at images of athletic leaping and bounding trademarked by such dramatic dancers as Barishnikov.  However,  while the urge to dance is healthy and universal,  options for children’s dance in our towns and cities are limited.  Hiphop and ballroom have replaced family folk dance, and competitive dance and cheer teams have replaced the simple singing dances and cotillions of old.  Ballet maintains its classical appeal to children and parents as it promises an artistically idealized grace,  beauty and musicality experience.  Although entrancing to many, the reality of ballet can soon lose its appeal to children not ready to take up classical training.



The reality is that many ballet schools begin formal training too early.   Demands such as “turn-out”of the legs and feet and extreme flexibility of joints before the developing body is ready can cause lasting harm to a child’s hips, knees and spine.  In addition, time spent indoors practicing precise poses and classical combinations can interfere with the normal physical and mental development of a growing child which otherwise would be forged by romping on the playground in the all-important years through age 7.



So, when is the right time to start ballet classes?  In the classical academies of Europe, 10 year old children are carefully selected for the bodies and minds suitable for the physical and emotional demands of artistic training. In the U. S., enrollment is open to just about everyone from age 2 onwards.  However, the repetitive and muscle-aching demands of a technical practice  can put undo stress on the bodies and minds of young

children.  It is not until the age of 7 or 8 that young dancers reach the maturity to undertake the disciplined rituals of regular ballet practice.   So what should you to do if your young one clamors for dance classes?  Look for classes called PreBallet or Introduction to Ballet  that are full of lively skipping, sliding, and marching to music—perfect for the developing movement of the young child!



Once your child is really ready, it’s time to find the perfect school.  Here are some tips for choosing a ballet class:



•    Is it a recreational or professional ballet school? This distinction make all the difference in the overall objective of the class, the experience of the students and the expectation of the parents.  During the course of a professional ballet training, many students will be eliminated or will leave because of the stringent demands designed to groom professional dancers.  Most young dancers will thrive in a



•     Go to the school and watch the first part of the beginners’ lesson.  As the children enter the studio, are they happy and excited, or sullen and tense?  A joyful mood of expectation  should predominate.



•    When the basic foot positions are practiced, are the feet allowed to align with natural turn-out (about 90 degrees with heels touching), or are they forced to a 180 degree (symbol) straight line?  This is a good indicator of the school’s philosophy and methods of training.



•    Is the music live or recorded?  The quality of classroom music is very important for the young dancer.  Live music helps develop the child’s ear, and a live musician can adjust rhythm, tempo and melody to suit each movement phrase.  In addition, a teacher who runs back and forth to a CD player is not able to give her full attention to the students.



Ballet is a beautiful and demanding discipline appropriate for some children to begin training around the age of 9.  Dance, however, is a universal expression of delight and ritual that can be enjoyed at any age.  Dance with your children at home, at school and at festivals.  Singing games and creative movement  for young children, and folk dance and PreBallet for older ones offer delightful and age-appropriate chances to skip, slide, hop, spin and jump … for everyone, boys and girls included!  Now, get dancing!

Read the full article here.

Valerie Baadh