Credit: Champaign Ballet Academy
by Tracy McCabe
From bouncing babies to tip-toeing toddlers, the inherent desire for children to move makes dance class a great destination for channeling a child’s energy and talent. Ballet continues to be the popular choice for young dancers and parents who want to develop their child’s grace and physical coordination.
But when is the right time for parents to steer their daughters and sons toward ballet class?
According to Deanna Doty, director of Champaign Ballet Academy and founder of Champaign Urbana Ballet, there are formative years where toddlers should steer clear of technically challenging classes and instead gravitate toward creative movement and pre-ballet classes.
Creative movement combines dance, story-telling, and musical skills in a fast paced, short session. Pre-ballet introduces children to ballet vocabulary and, like creative movement, emphasizes musicality, creativity, and personal expression in a structured class.
“Toddlers to age 6 really enjoy creative movement and pre-ballet; the classes are designed to nurture their enthusiasm for ballet and channel it in a way that is appropriate for their age,” advises Doty. “Then, age 7-9 is the best time for a child to enter a traditional ballet class. Children at that level have the physical capability and focus to progress from Ballet I to Ballet V.”
In fact, Doty suggests that taking dance too seriously before the age of seven can cause burnout. If a child is too young to progress physically, they might become bored or frustrated. Children ages 7 and older are able to take their ballet dreams and convert them better to physical reality – executing the positions and grace they relate to skilled dancers they see onstage and onscreen.
Classes at Champaign Ballet Academy follow these principles with weekly creative movement and pre-ballet classes for the youngest of students, and a traditional ballet curriculum that progresses in frequency and technical challenge as students grow older. Adult ballet classes are also gaining in popularity as more moms find a healthy fit in the combination of music, exercise, and posture-improving technique of adult ballet.
To maximize the benefits that ballet gives to girls and boys – confidence, physical strength, musicality, and grace – it’s critical for parents to expose them to the right experiences at the right time. “Our students excitedly drag their parents to ballet class; it shouldn’t be the other way around,” says Doty.
When deciding on the right time and studio, Doty advises parents to first observe the studio environment to see if it’s a good fit, “If you like the way students at the school are dancing and behaving, that’s a good indication of how your own child will be influenced.”
Tracy McCabe has over 20 years of ballet training, most recently with Fury Gold in Chicago, and previously with Delores Lipinski of Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance, Grace Lutrell Nanavati of Springfield Ballet Company, and Robert DiCello and Philip Johnston of the University of Illinois, among others. He is an assistant dean for the College of Business at ILLINOIS and is a board member and producer for Champaign Urbana Ballet.
Editor’s Note: Champaign Ballet Academy is a sponsor of chambanamoms.com
No related posts.
I danced with Tracy in the Springfield Ballet Company (although he might not remember me. Girls were, as you can imagine, quite plentiful in the ballet company, but boys were a rare find! So hi Tracy!) This is a great article, full of good advice. My mom owns a dance studio (Jan’s Dance Studio) just outside Springfield in Chatham, and she offers creative movement classes for children starting at age 3, but of course no formal ballet training for years after that. She’s very careful about not putting girls in toe shoes too early, either, even though parents and the students are always excited to move en pointe!
Tara: I remember and wish you well!
I have both boys (ages 6, 11 & 13) and girls (ages 9 & 15) attending ballet classes at the Champaign Ballet Academy. They all started at around age 6. Although I am not a dancer, I clearly see the multi-faceted benefits to dance. My boys love ballet for its physical and mental demands, but clearly ballet training also enhances their performance on their sports teams (soccer and baseball). My children really do excitedly “drag” me to drive them to class, because ballet training and performances are a happy and rewarding part of our family life!
I would love to see a comprehensive list of ballet and dance opportunities available for children in and around C-U, including Mahomet and other towns within 10-15 minutes of town. I am planning to gift my obsessed 3 year old with ballet/creative movement lessons for Christmas this year, and while I have been doing some searching on my own, something tells me Chambanamoms would be able to get the full scoop on all that is available.