ballet for babies

8/6/2019 Ballet for Babies

1/6

Can iny children earn o dance? How young s too young?Jane Albert finds that tots can do more than totter.

Illustrations by Alice Smith


2/6

a',,,:

'{',,*i' ii.:

*tn


3/6


4/6

R A D . O R G . U K

she began offering he classes ue o the high numberofinquiries she had received rom parents nterested ntheir young children earning o dance, There was a lot ofdemand or tiny tots,'Alexander ays. The classes tartedoff being pure (RADsyllabus) allet but we found hat

concentrating or half an hour on proper syllabus alletwas way too hard; so we introduced ong and azz andmade t more about creative movement with a ballet base.'

There were only four littlies the day went, butAlexander ays hey each up to 6o a week n the MiniMovers lasses. ichaela, ily, sabella nd Holly aillooked he part, dressed n the regulation ballet outfitofpink leotard, ballet slippers nd socks, heir hairpulled back n a bun. They began with some trerches,all taking part enthusiasticaliy nce he music beganand hey caught sight of themselves n the wall-lengthmirror. Theli,did bouncy nees and umps, with handson hips. Aleiander encouraged hem o point theirtoes, but once hey began more structured

ancingin firstposition 'lovelypieces fpie'), sabellaattending he class or the first time - lost nterest andwandered ff, arms outstretched s she wirled aroundthe room, eyes kyvvard. lexander ontinued, We'regoing o do battement endu that's a big fancy word,isn't t? And this time we're going o have parallel eet.'But Isabella was nterested nly n spinning aroundthe room, while Michaela egan hoisting her tutu uparound her shoulders.

D A N C E G A Z E T T E

It was a lovely happ5l omewhat haotic cene, ndit looked ike great un, Across own Stephanie hompsonwas conducting Movers and Groovers t the MosmanAcademy f Dance: wo half-hour classes ith a break nthe middle, or one o three-year-olds. he class s run inconjunction with the ocai day care centre, whose carersbring he children o class and are on hand o take hemto the toilet or step n when necessary llowingThompsonto co,ncentrate n the class, Where dst year's Movers andGroovdrs as more balietic, eaching hildren o pointtheir toes and act out characters, hompson xplains hatthe focus s now more orr azz, albeit built on the school'sMD foundations.

'The aim sn't o have t specifically lignedwith aballet class,' hompson ays. I try to base each week ona theme, such as bugs or ants. They won't have a widevariety of steps ut they get nto the characterisation ndgain hat sense f stepping ut of themselves.' he music

varies according o what s popula4 be t Disney lassicsor Wiggles unes. It's basic umping and skipping andgalloping we ust want them o understand ointing;flexibilitybending and stretching nd how the body canmove,' Thompson ays. It s not ballet,'

By all accounts he class s popula6 with 15children both boys and girls attending. Three-year-old Scarlett McDougall as aken he class inceshe was20 months old, and s already tching o begin a properclassical allet class. l think it's great because t teaches


5/6

hem a love of music and how to interpret music, a lovef dance, and it's starting to teach co-ordination at anarly age,' says Scarlett's mother Jasmin, also a danceeacher. Young chiidren may still have trouble speakingnd can get so frustrated when they're not understood,

o this is another way of expressing hemselves,'And there are plenry more benefits for the children.

ot only does t help deveiop their gross motor skills ando-ordination, it enhances social skills and increases heirpatial awareness, Where does my body end? How far cane sffetch if there's someone next to me?, asks Thompson.

Kids are so egocentrtc, t gives them an awareness ofthers, and of working as a team.r

The Ausualian organisation Gyrnbaroo has beenromoting the mental and physiologicai benefits ofovenent to music for the very young since it was

ounded in rg8z by Margaret Sasse, who discovered thatovement activities could assist hildren with lear.ningfficulties. 'Many of these children

hadn'tgone

throughe normal development patteffrs of early childhoodnd this impacted on their learning late6'says Jane

Williams, Gymbaroo's general manager and director ofsearch and education. 'When Margaret got them rolling

nd tumbling their learning improved dramaticaliy.'

S A L L g T F I ] R ; } A & I E S ?

Gymbaroo caters for children from six weeks to.fiveyears old, and around 32,ooo Austraiian children andtheir parents attend a class each week. The organisationhas expanded to Europe, the USA and Asia. We stan atsix weeks, but it can't be ust any movement, it needs oreplicate the automatic movement response hat babiesare born with - lying babies on their backs won't allowthem to become mobile compared with lying them ontheir tummies,' Williams explains.

When it comes to dancing, the level of interest fromparents of young children was so high rhe RAD releaseda pre-primary syllabus n zoo9. illhat stands out is theneed to keep movement simple, fun and imaginative,encouraging individualism and input from both teacherand child 'in order to capture and promote young

D A N C E G A Z E T T E l S s u E -

T---


6/6

W R A D , O R G K

children's nstinctive oy of movement and lieedom ofexpression.'The ackground notes o rhe syllabus cautionagainst eaching he refined skills of classical ailet tochildren who are roo young, as his can mpact theirdevelopment and ead to feelings of failure. ,Not oniy

can the qualiry and future development of the movementbe affected, but children can ose motivation and giveup,'it says. Above ali else, t urges eachers o encouragechildren's curiosiry and imagination.

The directors of the Centre of Dancing Excellencestand irm in their belief that children younger han twoand a half are simply too young to be taught ciassicalbal1et. Ballet is a discipline and we focus on the childrenhaving dedication and passion,' ays artistic directorSharna Baylis. My main goal is technique. t's about giving

D A N C E G A Z E T T E

the child the steps at the right age and we don't believethat under fwo and a half is an appropriate age o belealning ballet.'

A11 he teachers interviewed were well aware of therisks associated ith forcing children to do things heir

bodies weren't yet capable of.'We're

not forcing anythingon the children, 'm not srrerching heir bodies o a rangethat they can't easily manage,' says Stephanie Thompson.'Im taldng what they're going to do anyway, such asskipping and balancing. 'm taking the funky aspect andreiating t t o their lives - ge t out there and have a boogie!'

And here Thompson has revealed he main reasonwhy baby ba1let, iny tots, mini movers whatever youchoose o call it - has been such a success: ecause t' s al labout having fun.

45

1

In/t

It

ballet for babies

Documents