[Twilight]

Hi mamas,

I don't normally post in this forum but I was wondering if you could advise us...

I promised my DD we would sign her up for dance lessons as soon as she got potty trained. So now she keeps talking about it and I need to put my money where my mouth is!

Her daycare offers dance lessons for a good price but I can't tell which one I should choose. She changes her mind each time we ask her! I know she doesn't understand what the classes are and won't until she tries them...

The school offers pre-Tap, pre-Ballet, and Tumbling. My DH thinks she'd like Tumbling the best, and I think she'd have the easiest time following directions in that class (she JUST turned 3), but I am not sure if this would fit the picture in her head of what "Dance" lessons are?

The pre-Tap and pre-Ballet offer the first week free and you can quit with no money spent... I am wondering how bad it would be to sign her up for both and then just keep the one she likes better. I don't know if she'd understand why she's going to one and not the other then?

What would you do, and what have your kids enjoyed at the age of 3?

 

[midstreammama]

I think trying them both out is a good solution. I think as long as you stick with one then she wouldn't worry too much about the other one that you're not doing, kwim? My dd is 3.5 and has been begging for dance lessons. I just can't figure out what kind it is she wants to do, I wish we had the week trial thing here~ good luck~!

 

[AmaLari]

I don't think 3 is too young if she is the one interested. Let her try it out and see if it's something she's keen on.

My DD started baby ballet at age 3 and really liked it. She started LOVING it when it became more serious this past year and she got to begin barre work. She is in a RAD program with annual formal graded examinations. When she was 4, she added classical Indian dance which is very technical with no margin for error. Again, she really connected with the precision of it. At the ripe old age of 6

she has decided to focus on ballet.

DD is truly a dancer - she is very shy, yet when she is dancing, she is so full of expression and joy. Can you believe she performed a solo in front of 600+ classmates, parents, and teachers last year? She was so confident onstage, which makes me chuckle, since she's a child who is too shy to greet adults that she sees daily. LOL

So ... our experience has been quite positive and I'm glad that I let her give it a go. For now, she is loving it and getting extremely good training. (Watch out for community centre programmes after a certain age!) If and when she decides it's no longer for her, then she'll stop. No pressure from me and I don't allow her teacher/director to pressure her, either. It's all good.

 

[oldcrunchymom]

I would let her try all three and let her pick which she likes best. When my daughter was 3, she took a movement/tumbling/dance combo class. I think that's the best thing for that age because most 3yos aren't ready to concentrate on a whole hour of one type of dance.

My daughter is 8 now and getting more serious about her dance. Unfortunately the ballet-only school isn't going to work out for this year (too far away, too much $$, and bad times for us), but she's hoping to go next year. Instead she's taking ballet and ballet tech at her regular studio.

 

[AmaLari]

Oh, and I wanted to add that in most studios, ballet classes from 3-6 years old are generally movement classes with pink ballet shoes and leotards. Skills explored are timing, grace/movement, hand and arm positioning with scarves/skirts, etc. Depending on the child's natural ability/interest and the school's curriculum, introductory ballet study like barre work, turnout, correct pointing of the foot, and such can begin earlier but it is not essential at that age for serious long-term ballet work.

Dance is meant to be fun. When it's no longer fun for her, then it's time to discuss why not and help her to make the right decision.

 

[guestmama9924]

My opinion, as a mom of 2 dancing girls and a dancer myself

dance lessons first. all other forms of performance are built on some basic posturing and form that comes with ballet. ITA with AmaLari!

 

[wildmonkeys]

Well I teach a tumbling class for 3 &4 year old boys and that is a really fun experience for kids as they get to learn lots of stretches and balance activities while also getting to be really bouncy and upside down

My just 3 year old ds has asked to take a dance class so he is trying a creative movement class this fall.

I think ballet is probably a good basic foundation and personally think tap dancing is one of the most fun things to do even as an adult. If she gets tap shoes she will probably get a bunch of satisfaction out of making noise

BJ
Barney & Ben