Six reasons why young people should dance

Dance engages multiple senses, offering limitless creativity and imagination for young minds. Dance for young people inspires growth through kinaesthetic awareness, improvisation, active listening and physical movement. It’s not only fun and engaging but a healthy lifestyle choice. Read more below on the various benefits of dance for young people.

As a highly physical activity, dance provides improvements to young people’s overall health. Regular dance increases flexibility, coordination, strengthens muscle, improves balance, spatial awareness and endurance, helps posture, and betters the cardiovascular system. Dance can help prevent potential health risks such as joint sprains, asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and more.

Cognition is more than just understanding information. As children mature, they learn to make connections, improve analytical skills and develop creative ideas. Research demonstrates that participating in dance encourages cognitive development. Some of the benefits dance provides to good cognitive health include: developed critical thinking, risk taking, problem solving, thinking creatively and navigating ambiguity.

Dancing provides a sense of mental stimulation, wellbeing and the opportunity for young people to communicate how they feel. Studies by The Arts in Psychotherapy have shown dance improves mood by making participants feel happier and more mentally aware. Dancing helps reduce stress, anxiety, depression and gives young people the opportunity to feel connected and social. Going to a dance class can also provide a safe space where young people can feel emotionally comfortable.

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Sydney Dance Company school holiday workshops. Photo by Daniel Boud.

Dance allows young people to express their emotions in a way they may not be able to verbalise. Communication is an integral part of everyday life, and dance provides another avenue for children to engage with one another. Dance classes give young people another environment to meet new faces and socialise with others they may not normally connect with. The social benefits of participating in regular dance include: forming connections, maintaining friendships, eliminating social vulnerabilities and creating healthy interactions.

Dancing inspires freedom of expression and creativity. Nurturing a young person’s creativity through dance is important because it develops their capacity to innovate, problem solve and interpret situations. Dancing encourages young people to think in unconventional ways and generate new ways of moving.

Learning to dance involves practice, persistence, commitment and focus. All of these skills advance young people’s ability to process new information in a meaningful way. Dancing intertwines literacy and numeracy in an engaging way with verbal instructions and counting skills alongside physical activity. Dance education provides another platform for study outside traditional learning environments.

Our school holiday workshops provide an exciting and focused environment for young people to experience dance. Save $100 on our workshops when you use a Creative Kids voucher. NSW parents and guardians can apply now.