Why A Dance Education Versus Just Learning A Dance?

There are many different types of dance studios around our nation. And rightly so because not all families are looking for the same thing when it comes to placing their children in a dance program.

There are the "activity" studios. These are the ones that can come up with great activity style classes that only run six to eight weeks at a time. Low commitment and made for fun and to give the parents a break from their children once in awhile.

There are "lets learn a dance" studios that start teaching a dance at the beginning of the season and take the entire season to complete or polish it.

There are "competition" studios where every class in the studio, with maybe the exception of the baby classes, compete. That is their goal and target. Attend competitions.

There are the studios that see what they do as an education. They not only teach dances, but actually how to dance. Techniques is important and impressed upon their students because they want to be sure if these students do one day decide to audition for a university dance department or for a professional show, that they have the skills and training to make it.

Take these four types of studios and you will see even a different blend. Such as the Educational Studio that understands and can meet the educational side with still allowing a few students to compete. Why only a few? Because they are hand selected and not open called for auditions. These hand selected students are ones that parents understand that this is more that just getting on a stage and getting a trophy. It is about performance value and learning about performance.

Then there is the studio that the competitions are actually an activity because not enough time is spent on technique, but instead tricks to make the audience yell out for them (have you ever experience yelling "get it girl" during a Nutcracker performance by a professional company?). Although entertaining, these dancers seldom go on to higher levels of dance opportunities, and even if they tried they are generally turned away.

Dance is an education of movement, correct sequences and technique in execution. It should be fun or your child will not enjoy it. It should be measurable or your child will not know if they are advancing or not. It should be balanced with technique and learning a dance.

Yes, dance is an education. So is performance. An education that can take them to as high as they want to achieve, if they have the right start.