Science Says We ALL Can Dance!

YES, you CAN dance!  

 The University of York discovered that human beings have the innate ability to dance.  This came from a research based on a study of 120 infants between 5 months and 2 years old, finding that humans are born with a predisposition to move rhythmically in response to music.  The research also concluded that babies responded more to music than  speech. 

When I tell my friends what I do, usually the first question is what age group I teach.  I respond, “two and up.”

“TWO??!”

“Yep, two.”

“What can you do with a two year old?!”

I’ve found the two and three-year-olds (and the younger dancers in general) are pleasantly uncomplicated to teach movement to:  they’re uninhibited, follow along well, and just love moving to music.  In my young classes, I try to incorporate a few minutes of “free dance” while the students are in costume, have a prop in hand and the music is turned up.  I’m almost always amazed at what comes out during this portion of the class.  Incredibly, they move their arms gracefully, pull their leg into an arabesque, twirl, and most importantly, their eyes are usually cast off into the distance, completely lost in their imaginative world.  Sometimes I think, “Where were these moves while we were going across the floor?”  

The most refreshing aspect of this age group is that I can say anything.  For example, I can say that we’re all in a dark cave and have to make our way across with the light bulbs on our big toes.  The dancers do lovely grand battements, quietly putting their foot down with each step in order to not wake up any bats.  What’s amazing is, I rarely have to correct the bad habits of making sure toes are pointed (cause that’s where the light bulbs are and they need to stay pointed in order to see where they’re going), slamming their feet down (cause of the bats), and for some unknown phenomenon, they all seem to keep their backs straight while moving across the floor.  If I were to say this to one of my older classes, maybe a few would play along (and a few others would say, "This isn't a cave, duh!") but really, they would just be trying to execute grand battements, bringing along all the bad habits that come with wanting to kick your legs up as high as you can:  flexed feet, bodies lunging forward as legs go up, and feet slamming back down to the floor.

 I understand that dancing isn't a passion that everyone holds in their hearts, but I do think it's a fantastic early activity for all young children to explore movement, music, and imagination.  

After all, we're born with it.

  ~ Miss Jenna

"Dance isn't something that can be explained in words. It has to be danced." - Paige Arden