Thursday 7 July 2011

Health column - Dance age - Veena Basavarajaiah

“Young dancers are training at a very vulnerable time in their lives...So train the whole person, not just the dancer."
- Deborah Bull

Formal training in movement requires a very high level of discipline, longer attention span and the maturity to understand its nuances. Forcing the aesthetics of a form on to a child before its mind and body is prepared might result in a situation where the child develops a distaste towards the art form. Children below the age of 8 have limited attention span while their bones are too soft and muscles fragile. Therefore pre-training process is required where the child learns to move freely to music and rhythm and also develops self awareness. One has to let the child explore its creativity through creative tasks and games. Parents have to be aware that it requires a different approach to teaching at this age and must choose teachers with care.

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