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Most children grow up, unsure of what they want to do in life. This moral dilemma can follow children far into their adult lives. Being involved in a dance community allows children to express themselves without the use of words. Children at artistry are encouraged to let the music move them while following a structure placed on each class. Why is it crucial for child development to be able to express themselves in a structured environment? Becoming involved in a community where a person is felt that they are heard is vital in the stages of finding out a person’s role in society. Children should learn to find an artistic outlet to fully express themselves to develop physically and mentally. In hopes of finding a strong artistic outlet with the same passion for children, I stumbled on a studio called Artistry Dance Alliance. “We provide a whole experience where a student can express themselves artistically, develop technically, learn responsibility and work ethic, maintain an athletic regiment, and feel at home while doing it” (Logan Tharpe.) This quote shows the true value that Artistry Dance Alliance provides children to express themselves completely with the use of strong and empowered teachers and class structure.
Allowing children to feel as they have a voice within their community is crucial. These dancers at Artistry enjoy coming to class and enjoy working with their teachers along side of their peers. Logan Tharpe stated in her interview that, “Our focus is on an individual dancer opposed to the studio as a whole. The individual journey of each dancer compared to a team success is important. We treat dance as a sport.” Allowing the focus to be on the individual allows the student to grow. If you place stress on the group as a whole, you are only as strong as your weakest team member. Dancers at artistry have a place they come to grow socially and technically as people and dancers. Instructors use a variety of methods to focus on the growth of individual dancers such as an activity called improvisation. This activity allows the individual dancer to “feel the music” and dance how they see fit to the music chosen by the instructor. The dancers love showing their passion and speaking their minds without actually speaking at all.
Many people would think that allowing children to move freely throughout the room might cause chaos. Yet, this chaos has somewhat of a structure. “Social competence is intimately linked with children’s behavior problems”(Lobo and Winsler). Allowing the dancers to dance along side of their peers, they are forming bonds that many people don’t get to experience. These dancers involvement includes directs contact, counter balance and supporting someone else’s physical weight. These dancers are able to get to know their peers in a complete different way. They all share a similar passion for dance and show up ready to learn with their best friends by their sides. Finding your passion and sharing your passion with a diverse group of people is extremely satisfying and necessary for children in this pre adolescent stage.
Within this dance community there is a unique structure in each class that plays an important role in how the studio runs. Mrs. Tharpe, the owner of Artistry dance alliance, explains that she strives for a certain type of instructor to teach for her to maintain this structure. Logan states, “I look for strong work ethic, passion, responsible people so I don’t have to dictate what they do, while also looking for someone who is pleasant and wont upset any parents or dancers.” All of the instructors at Artistry come to class with a detailed plan of action and a smile on their face. Structure within a class is extremely important as to be able to allow kids to learn in a controlled and healthy environment.
Children grow up with a schedule and should be introduced to a certain standard to uphold at a young age.
Creating friend groups within school is vital for children’s growth and development, but finding an artistic or physical outlet is even more important. “The role of fitness in physical education programs perhaps has never been more important than it is today” (Sluder, et al). The using sports education to teach autonomy also doesn’t fail to mention the amount of kids that are over weight. These children should be involved with some kind of sport to increase the amount of activity they do daily.
Creative dance is defined as the interpretation of a child's ideas, feelings and sensory impressions expressed symbolically in movement forms through unique uses of his/her body (Dimondstein, 1971).