What does your child actually take home from dance class, besides tired legs and a new routine to show you in the kitchen? Quite a lot. Along with the steps, dance teaches discipline, confidence, listening, teamwork and resilience, and children use those skills at school and everywhere else.
At Nan’s School of Dance, we see these lessons leave the studio with our students all the time. The habits and attitudes they build in class help with schoolwork, friendships, future jobs and everyday life. The best part is that most of it happens without anyone trying. Kids come to class to move and have fun, and they pick up the life skills along the way.
Discipline and responsibility
Discipline is one of the first things dance teaches. Dance takes commitment, focus and steady effort, and students soon learn that coming to class regularly and working hard is how they improve.
Dance also shows children that growth takes time. A new skill can take days, weeks or even months to get right. Working through that teaches patience and builds a strong work ethic.
That same mindset helps at school. A child who knows that practice and persistence pay off may find it easier to take on a hard assignment, study for a test or keep working toward a long-term goal.
Confidence that extends beyond the studio
Confidence is one of the benefits parents notice first. It grows every time a student learns a new step, performs in front of other people or reaches a goal that once seemed out of reach.
In dance, children build confidence by doing things. Nobody has to tell them they’re capable, because they’ve just proved it to themselves.
Over time, you may see that confidence show up elsewhere. Your child might speak up more in class, jump into group projects, try new activities or introduce themselves to new kids. Once they believe “I can do hard things,” that belief goes with them.
Time management and organization
As dancers get older, they learn to juggle more. They keep track of class times, important dates, rehearsals and performances, and they get their dancewear ready.
That builds organization skills that come in handy at school and later on. Managing their own commitments also teaches accountability: being prepared, showing up on time and following through. Teachers and future bosses will appreciate all three. If your dancer is juggling a busy schedule, these tips on managing school and dance can help.
Listening and following directions
Dance class asks students to listen carefully and notice details. They take in instructions, watch demonstrations and apply corrections on the spot.
Good listening is how dancers learn choreography, and it’s just as useful in a classroom. Students who practice listening closely often find it easier to follow directions, remember what they’ve learned and stay focused during lessons. It also helps them communicate better with the people around them. You can read more about the connection between dance and academic success.
Teamwork and cooperation
Dance has its solo moments, but a lot of it is teamwork. A group routine only works when every dancer does their part.
Students learn to cooperate, respect each other’s space, support one another and help the whole group succeed. They find out that everyone in the routine matters. Those lessons carry over to school projects, sports teams and clubs, and one day to the workplace. Working well with other people is one of the most useful skills a child can learn, and we wrote more about it in how dance teaches gratitude and teamwork.
Resilience and perseverance
Every dancer hits a rough patch. A skill takes longer to learn than expected, choreography feels hard, or a mistake happens in the middle of a performance.
Dance teaches students to keep going. When something feels hard, dancers learn to try it again, and practice and repetition build their resilience and perseverance.
Being able to bounce back from a setback helps for life. When students face a tough class at school, a personal challenge or a big career goal, resilience helps them keep moving forward.
Goal setting and achievement
Goals come naturally in dance. A student might be working on a turn, more flexibility, remembering a routine or getting ready for a recital.
Working toward goals like these shows children how progress happens: real achievements usually take steady effort and patience. Setting a goal, working at it and finally reaching it makes kids proud and keeps them motivated. Children who learn to set goals early often bring that same drive to the rest of their learning.
Creativity and problem solving
Dance is physical, and it’s creative too.
Students learn to interpret music, express feelings and think like artists. They try different ways to move and find out how movement can share an idea or tell a story.
Creative thinking helps people solve problems and adapt to new situations, whatever they end up doing, from business or healthcare to teaching, technology or the arts. Dance is a fun way for children to practice it.
Respect for themselves and others
Respect runs through everything in a dance studio. Students learn to respect their teachers, their classmates and themselves.
They learn how to behave in class, how to be a good sport and how to encourage others. They build self-respect too, by taking pride in their effort and what they achieve. All of this helps children build healthy relationships and grow into kind members of their communities.
Building more than dancers
We love teaching technique, choreography and performance at Nan’s. Some of the most important lessons, though, have little to do with the steps.
Every class helps students build confidence, discipline, teamwork, resilience, creativity and responsibility, and those skills help them at school, with friends, in their future careers and in everyday life. Your child will outgrow the recital costume and move on from this year’s routine, but the life skills stay. If your child is in kindergarten through 5th grade, our elementary dance classes are a good place to start.
Reach your goals with Nan’s School of Dance
At Nan’s School of Dance, our goal is to provide top-quality instruction at a competitive price. We encourage our students to reach technical proficiency in their favorite dance form and build self-discipline, poise, and self-esteem. We offer instruction in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Acro, and Pre-Dance, at all levels.
We love having new members in our dance classes and will help get your child acclimated to our dance school to make them feel right at home. When your child attends Nan’s School of Dance, they will become a part of our dance family and share in our love for dance!
Don’t forget to register!
From ballet to hip hop, we offer dance classes for ALL ages and skill levels in a variety of styles. We place students in classes that will challenge them while offering a fun atmosphere for learning and growth. We also offer Mommy & Me classes (18 months – 2.5 years). Register online or give us a call at (919) 803-6044 to hold your spot!
*Feel free to follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Want to read more about dance?
Take a look at some of our other articles about benefits of dance.