ReFlex Children's Dance Center Parent's Primer

( for ages 3-8)

A STUDENT SHOULD LEARN MORE THAN STEPS IN A DANCE LESSON.

Your child should stimulate his/her creative side and enjoy self-expression.
Build self-esteem and confidence and feel at home in his/her body, so growing up is easier.
Develop a life long appreciation for music, dance and the arts.
And most importantly, be engaged in an activity, which is healthy, active, and very, very fun.

Dance requires time and concentrated effort for talent to develop, but people are less inclined to stick with difficult challenges than they once were. In today's quick paced, cyber connected world, wholesome, tried and true interests (like dance) must compete with instant gratification activities, most of which are more about entertainment than education.

Often, dance just doesn't measure up. When dance teacher, Ginny East, noticed the changes in the attitudes and expectations of current youth, she took on the challenge and developed a youth dance education program that would be creative and fun while also maintaining artistic integrity. The goal was to make children fall in love with the movement in a new way, because they knew that once a student was hooked on dance, they would willingly embrace the self-discipline and focus required to advance.

The program is called KIDDANCE and what began as an original idea for her first school's (FLEX) Children's Dance Center grew into a dance education company recognized nationwide that offers instructional videos, CD's, a syllabus, newsletters and educational seminars for dance teachers. Care is given to every detail of the KIDDANCE program, and everything from the design of the room, preselected music, props and exercises, to the training of the teachers has been developed to enhance dance education. When your child takes a class at FLEX, you can be sure he or she is developing a strong foundation in dance basics, even if it feels like she’s just having fun.

WHAT IS MY CHILD ACTUALLY LEARNING IN THE CHILDREN’S DANCE CENTER?

CREATIVITY

It may look like playing, but learning about shape while molding your body to look like a clay form, discovering space while creating statues with elastics or becoming a dancing shadow teaches the concepts of spatial awareness.

COORDINATION AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONING

Physical awareness is the first step towards teaching a young dancer correct technique and alignment, and we combine this with body conditioning (working on flexibility and strength) in every class. Exercises for posture and carriage may be embedded in a dance combination or floor crossing with beanbags or elastics. Your child may put together a life-size skeleton puzzle, or play a dance game where body parts are highlighted by socks under a black light, a creative method to teach the workings of muscles, bones and ligaments.

MUSCALITY AND RHYTHM

All music used in the youth classes is pre-selected and categorized to assure every song is age appropriate and inspirational for the students in each level. Students are exposed to a variety of music styles, including classical, instrumental, world music, jazz, Broadway tunes, and pop. Of course children's favorites like Disney songs and other popular youth artists are used as well to keep our material current and appealing to today's "linked in" kids. Our diverse choices expand your child's music awareness while keeping the classes fresh and mainstream.

DANCE PERFROMANCE

Of course, learning how to put it all together to create a dance for performance is important too. Your child will practice traditional dance combinations each week to develop their retention and performance skills, and in the second half of the dance year, the class will learn a routine for the recital, a great learning opportunity that provides us with a chance to address stage craft and performance skills too.

YOU CAN HELP US MAKE THE DANCE EXPERIENCE THE BEST IT CAN BE.

ALLOW US UNINTERRUPTED CREATIVE TIME

When learning to dance, there is a time to perform and a time to be absorbed with learning about the body through the pleasure and freedom of movement for movement's sake. When the lesson begins, we shut the door, closing out the outside world to make dance the center of attention.

Parents are asked to wait outside the classroom, but they are invited to watch through the one-way mirror. Please do not tap on the window or open the door to remind your child you are near. Concentration is easier for students when the class can proceed without interruption, and we don't want students self-conscious or constantly performing for an audience.

Let them discover the joy of dancing for themselves! Occasionally, we will draw the blinds, but it is never to shut out parents, only to make the room dark enough to support a backlight exercise. Once that particular exercise is complete, we will open the blinds again and you can continue to enjoy watching your child learn to dance.

LEARNING WHEN READY

Often a child needs to know what is expected of her, or needs time to adjust to a new space or teacher before she or he feels safe and comfortable in class. We never force or push a child to dance, because a great dance experience is born of an individual's desire to participate. Select repetition of exercises, a familiar class format and careful explanations will eventually make joining in fun for every child. If your child needs time to just watch when new exercises are introduced, don't be alarmed or disappointed. When it's the child’s idea to dance, it will come from the heart!

RESPECTING DANCE

From the first moment a dancer steps into the studio, we teach them to honor and respect the teacher, fellow students and the dance environment. Proper dance class etiquette is observed, and listening and following directions is the first step towards learning.

Students are expected to participate in all the activities and are not allowed to wander around the room or distract others. Learning to dance is not about "discipline" (a word which often has bad connotations) but is about self-discipline, the path to success in all areas of life.

We are firm about proper behavior in class, and occasionally, when all else fails, a student may even be excused from participating until they are willing to follow directions. In most cases, this teaches the child that there are boundaries in the dance class, and when they return the next lesson they have come ready to behave like a dancer. Self-control is the first step to creating an environment where creativity can surface and bloom, so if we have to be firm or take action to keep the lessons under control, please support us so that together, we can help your child learn that self control is a part of being a superb dancer.

SPEAKING OF SELF DISCLIPLINE . . .

The first step to teaching a child self-discipline as a dancer is to demonstrate the same quality as a dance parent. We understand how busy parents are today, but do your best to make sure your child arrives on time, ready to dance. Do not take her out of class early unless it is absolutely necessary and don't miss lessons unless you absolutely can't avoid it.

Help your child put her hair up neatly and come dressed in dancewear with all her dance shoes. The act of preparing for dance is sometimes all it takes to change a child's mindset from distracted playfulness to learning readiness. If you act as if dance is worthy of effort and attention, your child will feel the same, and this is the fastest way to reap the benefit of dance training beyond dance steps.

ReFlex Children's Dance Center Parent's Primer ( for ages 3-8)