Importance of Dance Education
Dance is a powerful medium that allows an individual to express their values, thoughts and aspirations through movement. It’s important that children learn this as they grow older as they’ll develop the knowledge and skills to create, perform and understand movement as an art form.
The National Dance Education Organization in United States defines a comprehensive dance education as having improvisation, technique, choreography, performance, observation and analysis studies. They also suggest that kids should have an exposure to dance history and cultures, kinesiology and anatomy, and movement theories to further enrich their dance educational experience.
Children who are educated with dance learn to create, perform and critically analyze artistic processes by learning how to read symbols, use critical thinking skills, exchange ideas, work together, excel in nonverbal communication and interact within a multi-cultural society. Dance also teaches kids to develop kinesthetic and spatial learning, along with intra and interpersonal knowledge.
Research suggests that students who study dance are more self-motivated, disciplined and focused in their everyday lives. Kids learn to be more expressive when communicating emotions, thoughts and feelings. They also learn how to be creative and imaginative, as well as learn to critically analyze their own work and the work of others.
“The arts are not just expressive and affective, they are deeply cognitive.”
“During the brain’s early years, neural connections are being made at a rapid rate. Much of what young children do as play — singing, drawing, dancing — are natural forms of art. These activities engage all the senses and wire the brain for successful learning,” states David A. Sousa, author of How the Brain Learns.
He continues, “The arts are not just expressive and affective, they are deeply cognitive. They develop essential thinking tools — pattern recognition and development; mental representations of what is observed or imagined; symbolic, allegorical and metaphorical representations; careful observation of the world; and abstraction from complexity.”
Many teachers often incorporate dance into their classrooms to boost morale and grades. These teachers often became more engaged in teaching as they gain a deeper knowledge of their students interests and activities. Students who participate in dance, as well as other art forms such as music and drama, typically score better on math and reading scores.
