At Dance Extreme, it isn’t only about dance. We strive to teach more than just dance within our studio walls. Rebecca Brettingham-Filice, Dance Extreme’s Artistic Director, speaks of the art of dance as being like building blocks – “You have to start from the bottom up or the tower will fall,” she says. The development of life skills models this progression, and those skills — more than ever — are being taught through dance training.
Taking a dance class requires discipline — making it to every class, focusing on the teacher and yourself, and controlling your body to do what is required to execute proper technique. Dance students learn to recognize that most things take time to develop and require a commitment of time, energy and sacrifice. This type of discipline, when transferred into the home, school and workplace, gives the dancer an advantage.
Time management may be the most important quality necessary for success in life. Students who know how to plan ahead, organize, and balance their lives are the students who succeed. Children who add dance to their weekly activities, especially those who may take several classes each week, must learn to manage their time. They learn to balance, to prioritize, to multitask, and to make choices and sacrifices. They also learn the importance of follow-through when it comes to making a choice and sticking with their decision.
In addition to these tried and true life skills, which even adults attest sometimes develop later in life, dance students learn early that criticism is not a bad word. True constructive criticism means helping someone find the best in themselves through feedback. Students who are able to receive and use criticism will gain more from others, and those who are able to grow within their art are also able to bring their technique and art to the next level.
They begin to understand that dance is greater than they are. It is the ultimate unity of the music, the choreography, the technique and the soul of the dancer that creates the dance. They learn to tune into the creative energy within themselves and bring that to all that they do outside the studio walls.
Above all, one should never stop learning and never set limits on themselves. If they learn these valuable life skills through their dance training, beginning at a young age, they will succeed in all aspects of their life beyond the studio.
— By Richelle Hirlehey, Dance Extreme
