In the Struggle to Balance Dance and School, Don’t Give Up On the Arts
Sep 9th, 2008 | By Blog Editor | Category: Newest Posts, Parents & Young Dancers, Young Adult DancersIt’s hard to do everything you need to for school, friends, homework, and dance class. We’re now a few
If you’re thinking of freeing up some time by giving up activities, don’t drop dance. Even though it requires time and energy, research shows that your participation in dance can actually help you succeed in school.
Studies on Arts and Learning
“Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning” is a book about seven major research experiments that tested whether participation in the arts could improve students’ learning abilities. Overall, these studies showed that when students participate in the arts–including dance– they do demonstrate enhanced learning and achievement in school.
“Critical Evidence: How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement,” is a study by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. This study also reported on the positive connection between arts and improved learning.
How Dance Improves Your Learning Abilities
- “Dance has been employed to develop reading readiness in very young children” (”Critical Evidence” page 11)
- Those who studied dance scored higher than non-dancers on measures of creative thinking in an experimental research study of high school age students (”Critical Evidence” page 15)
- A group of juvenile offenders and other disenfranchised youth, ages 13 to 17, reported significant gains in confidence, tolerance and persistence after taking jazz and hip hop dance classes twice weekly for 10 weeks (”Critical Evidence” page 14)
- Students in a dance troupe learn to plan, explain their ideas, argue for a particular tactic, and articulate strategies when they help select performance themes and organize practice schedules (”Champions of Change” page 25).
- Students who learn the arts in school express their thoughts and ideas, exercise their imaginations, take risks in their learning, and demonstrate their learning better than students who receive little arts instruction in school (”Champions of Change” page 38-39)
Stick It Out In Dance
Do your best to keep up your commitment to dance, even if you feel pressured to lighten your weekday responsibilities. Not only is dance a great way to stay fit and burn stress, but it’s also a good tool for success in school. The skills that you learn in dance and in school–creative thinking, problem solving, and teamwork–will help you throughout your whole life.
Good luck in school, and enjoy the new dance year!
No matter how hard I try, I keep doing more! I’m now doing swing dance, English/Scottish dancing, and ballet about 7.5 hours a week. It’s amazingly fun, but a real drain on time. At least, as a college student, I don’t have transportation time!
Will:
How fortunate you are to be in a place that offers a nice range of dance! :-)
Keep us updated on how it’s all going!
-Jen
yes yes…but sometimes is overwhelming having to do so much..like..skool..work..dance is just like sometimes we wanna give up …buh yeah with my students in world class dance company ppl tend to give up buh ama show them this blog and make sure they take this into consideration
Chino:
“Overwhelming” is definitely the right word. And you’re right: with so much to do, it’s easy to want to give up something. But dance is such a good thing to be busy with. And even though it takes a lot of effort, it can definitely help get rid of the stress of things like work and school.
Good luck juggling dance and school and work and…everything! Thanks for the comment and for passing the post along.
-Jen