Could you imagine having following classes in school, on Monday, for example: English, Maths, Science, Dance?
I have already wrote about how dance classes are used in teaching coding. I wanted to describe connection of mathematics and dance, but then I found this interesting interview of Shiamak Davar, Bollywood Ace Choreographer.
While I was working on this text, personal spy for all of us, Google 😉 brought to me an article of Sir Ken Robinson about the importance of dance and how it should be introduced to schools as subject, just as maths, science and language. Dance may even help raise test scores. Sir Robinson has the most watched TED talk ever “Do schools kills creativity” (in that talk he mentions our story from post: “Prescribe Me a Proper Medicine”). You can read full article” Why Dance Is as Important as Math in Education” here.
Shiamak Davar says in this interview (in brief, you can read the whole interview in the link provided below): from being perceived as just a hobby, today the mindset of people towards dance has changed, it is taken seriously as a viable career opportunity. With the benefits of dance being observed by more people, today it is considered as important a part of the career as any other subject.
The aim is to provide quality dance education in India through a well-structured syllabus, inculcating correct technique and providing wholesome training to students of all ages. Whilst at school, children are more receptive to the process of learning and using dance as a medium of physical activity and creative medium, this program helps students in overall development as described in text below.
Dance as a subject in curriculum initiates Collaborative effort, Co-ordination, and Co-operative teamwork. Dance as an art form incorporates a lot of collaborative and team effort to put up a performance.
Building a sense of Team Spirit: Dance as a part of the curriculum initiates collaborative effort, coordination, and co-operative teamwork between classmates/students.
Evolving through Movements: Dance as an art form is ever-evolving. There are multiple styles of dance and within each style, there are various techniques. This keeps the minds of students continuously involved and curious. Every class there is something new to learn and experience.
Positively Channelize Energy: Using dance as a medium of physical activity and creative medium, dance as a part of curriculum/education aims at channelizing their energy in a resourceful manner. Dance is a holistic activity for the mind, body, and soul. It aligns all these, and the participants are then more aware of their strengths and weaknesses allowing them to identify them and work on them.
Self Awareness: Through dance, participants become more aware of their strengths and weaknesses giving them an opportunity to work on them. This is where the art of dance and the performing arts help develop skills, knowledge, and understanding.
Overall Personality Development: In times when technology and social media take most everyone’s time, dance is a great hobby where one can learn, enjoy and work out at the same time. Each class targets skillful progression to improve fitness levels, confidence, focus, concentration, team spirit, positive thinking, discipline, all-round development, posture, and body language.
Feel-Good Factor: Dance is a great way to release energy, shed inhibitions and let out emotions. When you dance you sweat, and you release ‘feel-good’ endorphins that make you happy. Good music, good dancing is a great way to be in a happy state of mind. Music in itself is therapeutic. Dance is a physical interpretation of what the music says. Good music, good dancing is a great way to be in a happy state of mind. The teaching pattern is interactive and communicative ensuring that the learning process is fun and stress-free.
Improves Learning Capability: Dance reduces stress and helps one in releasing emotions. Dancing improves mental health and memory as it empowers the art of remembering. You know it is difficult to remember the whole choreography hence continuous practice is key.
Giving it equal importance as other subjects not only helps them develop their personality but also opens up opportunities to make dance their profession. Whether as a performer, dance instructor, choreographer or entrepreneur in the field of the performing arts, there are a plethora of opportunities.
Parents often tell us that their children show an improvement in their academics because of the dance classes. The reason behind this is primarily that their focus increases as they have something to look forward to, they get to do what they like and enjoy. Also, many students who are introverts get a platform to express themselves and their personality develops through these classes. Not only do they learn to dance, engage in physical activity but also experience something that highlights their spirit.
Source:
https://www.stoodnt.com/blog/why-dance-is-important-as-maths/
https://www.nmchoreography.com/danceblog/2018/9/11/why-dance-is-as-important-as-math-in-education
