When to Start Dancing?
Parents across the country often ask themselves how and when they should get their children involved in dance.
Studio owners, during registration and throughout the dance season are often asked, “Is it too late to get my daughter/son to start dance classes?”
Most experts and amateurs will tell you that it is never too late to start pursuing the potential passion the child or adult might have for dance.
With that in mind, children and adults starting dance later than normal should maintain realistic expectations about how they progress as dancers and what styles of dance are best suited for them.
Make sure you pick the right style of dance to start, pick the right studio environment to learn in, and most of all have FUN doing it!
Too Young, Too Old?
Many children start dancing as soon as they begin to walk, with parents enrolling their little ones as early as pre-school.
Children enrolling in a pre-school program should be in a program that is all about fun, while still learning basic dance movements.
Besides being a great physical activity, dance helps young children begin to socialize, build confidence, and helps them develop their creativity and personality.
Our studio, here at Liberty Dance Center, has a pre-school program that provides combo classes teaching ballet, tap, and jazz movements while also using parachutes, hula hoops, and other fun things to finish dance classes concentrating on the fun side of dance.
Other children, and sometimes adults, develop an interest in dance much later and wonder if they can get started while possibly joining a class that includes dancers with several years of experience.
It is never too late to start dance classes, but it is important to pick the right style of dance for you and the correct age group of dancers or experience level of the dance class.
Some of the questions a new dancer might ask before enrolling in a class are:
- What style of dance should I take? Would I enjoy a slower movement class like ballet, or would I prefer a faster pace style of dance like jazz or hip-hop?
- What age group range of dancers for classes are available at the studio and where would I fit? What is the average age of the students in the class I might consider? Are there any students in that class that are newer dancers?
- What type of class would the studio owner recommend knowing I have little or no dance experience?
- Does the dance studio offer private lessons, and at what cost, in case I need a little extra practice to catch up to the other students in the class?
- Does the studio offer different difficulty/experience levels of classes within a certain age group I would participate in?
For new adult dancers it’s important to find out what type of adult classes are offered and what are the age ranges and experience levels of those dancers.
Dance Success and Fun Can Come at Any Age!
Although children who start dance at an older age face tougher odds of becoming a professional dancer, it can happen!
More importantly, a child or adult starting dance a bit later in life has an equal chance of having fun and getting a great physical workout not to mention meeting some great new friends.
Dance has a way of transforming a person’s life and proving to themselves that they can learn a new skill, learn what they are capable of doing, or finding an creative inner being they didn’t know they possessed. All it takes is passion, dedication, and desire to learn.
Experiencing the Freedom of Movement
When our studio opened several years ago, we came up with the tagline, “Experience the Freedom of Movement” to encourage our dancers to have fun, meet new friends, and to follow their dreams.
We constantly encourage our dancers to think big, work hard, and have fun along the way. Becoming as good of a dancer that you can be is a success in itself, and the journey in becoming a dancer will be an experience that can have a lasting impact on your life!