Benefits of Dance Education

Kathy DeJean makes these observations about dance education:

• “Dance for children is much needed in a school curriculum along with physical education, because it explores their potential in movement ... on any size, shape, or color of body.”
• “I get a lot of feedback from classroom teachers who say, ‘I can tell these children have been with you and had dance because they are more assertive — not aggressive, but more assertive in their thinking and being able to share their thoughts.’”
• “Dance is a good experience for children who have a hard time sitting down. Once they come to movement and burn off some of that energy, they can focus on more sequential, factual information.”
• “Boys do like to dance. I start them off using the word ‘movement.’ Some boys are beautiful at movement. They get to explore that. Girls widen their perspective. They see that it is not just one style — dance is about what you think, what you feel, what you see.”