Why is age-appropriate movement important?
Why is it so important that APA offers age-appropriate movement for its students? Because your child’s safety depends on it! Safe movements for young dancers are dependent on their ages and rate of physical growth. For example, a five-year-old needs a different approach to movement than a fifteen-year-old, even if they both have dance experience. Our staff members take great care in their teacher education to learn about how to help children of all ages build a strong physical foundation in dance. Our curricula allow us to ensure the pace of learning is just right at each level. Here are just a few examples you may notice from your child’s class:- With little dancers, we focus on basic weight-shifting, gross motor skill movements, not intricate technique
- Since the muscles that support a child’s hip joints are still developing, we never force a child’s “turnout” (the rotated position many dance steps are performed from)
- We ensure our dancers of all ages know to never overstretch their muscles, either in class or when they stretch on their own time