What Dance Class Should I Enroll My 3 Year Old In?

Being a dance teacher, I get the same question over and over again, "My daughter is 3 years old, I want to enroll her in dance classes, which classes should I enroll her in?" The answer I always give is, ballet and tap, and I'll tell you why.

At such a young age, girls' (or boys') bones are not strong enough to handle moves of some of the different types of dancing.  Ballet will help make their bones strong so that they can do these other types of dances later on.  Also beginners ballet is very easy to comprehend and easy to do. 

Doing ballet when they are younger will get them using pointe shoes a lot faster and it will be easier for them to try any type of dance because other types of dances are based off of ballet.  Later on, when they have had the ballet experience, they might like to try contemporary or modern.  Ballet will help prepare them for these types of dances.

Also, since ballet is the first type of dance ever to be discovered, I believe it is important that every dancer has experience with ballet, especially if they are a young dancer, who is just starting out. 

Also, a lot of parents complain about dance costumes being too revealing to dance in for their young dancers.  For ballet, costume selections are very apropreaite, and parents can actually sit down and enjoy their little one's dance recital without having a heartattack about their child going on stage "half naked." The music is also soothing, calming, and is appropreaite for their age. 

Tap is another type of dance I suggest because a lot of the younger ones enjoy being able to make the "tap noise" and it is more of an upbeat type of dance than ballet.  If you are planning on putting your child in hip hop or jazz later on, I suggest that they take tap, because the moves are somewhat similar and the music is more faster than ballet. 

Also tap costumes are not as revealing as some of the other costumes out there.  Tap also follows after ballet in some of the same dance positions and moves, so if you enrolled your child in ballet, it would be a great fun upbeat practice class for ballet too.

*Tap shoes are unexpensive just like ballet shoes and can be found in any dance store such as ABC Dance or even online at WWW.discountdancesupplies.com

How to Dress for Dance Class

So I've told you how to find the right ballet shoes for your ballet class, but I never specified what you should wear to dance class.  Every teacher and class is different, but I am going to tell you what I wear for each class and what the standard dress code is. 

Just like it is important to have comfortable ballet shoes to dance in, it is just as important for you to dance in comfortable and flexible dance clothes. 

Many people think that just regular sweats is an appropreaite dress code for their dance classes.  In reality, this is wrong.  Baggy sweat pants and t-shirts can actually harm your dancing and be dangerous to you.  If you are wearing baggy sweat pants, you can trip and fall over them and injure yourself.  If you are wearing a baggy t-shirt, this can get in the way of arm movements.  Also, baggy clothes make the dance look sloppy and it is hard for your dance teacher to see what the class is doing wrong when rehearsing. 

Here are are some clothing options

A leotard- this is a tight body suit that looks like a whole piece swim suit.  It is a must be worn item for ballet along with pink tights and ballet shoes.  A leotard fits tight to your body and is either made out of spandex or cotton.  It allows you to move freely every way you want to. 

• Yoga Pants- These are tight spandex pants that can be found anywhere from Victoria's secret to Charlotte Russe.  These pants allow you to move easily when you are doing floor moves.
• Spandex shorts- These are tight shorts made of spandex.  They are comfortable and allow you to be as flexible as possible, and are great to wear in the summertime when it is hot outside.  You can find these in any dance store.
•   Foot Undeez- These are little foot protectors that look like underwear for your feet.  If your dance class does not require shoes, like modern or contemporary dance, foot undeez help protect the bottom of your feet so that blisters and cuts do not occur.  You can find these in any dance store.
• Footless tights- Footless tights are comfortable and they are great to go with your spandex shorts or leotard.  They are footless, so they stop at your ankle.  They come in so many colors and designs such as poka dots, animal print, zebra print, and tye dye, so you can all sorts of fun while you are dancing.  I found my fun footless tights at target for a cheap price, but for recitals, I went to my local dance store for the standard colors.

The costs of these different types of clothing varies depending on where you get it
 
*If you are going to wear t-shirts or tank tops, especially over your leotard, make sure that it is fitted and that it isnt so big that it will interfere with your dancing. 
Here are some online dance clothing sites for you to look at and enjoy:

Dancewear Solutions
DiscountDanceSupply

Anorexia: The Most Common Eating Disorder in Dancers

Anorexia is a common eating disorder amongst dancers of any age.  How do I know this, I see it.  I am a dancer myself, and I teach dance classes. Even though it is not a real diagnosis, it is easy to tell which dancer has an eating disorder and which dancer does not.  When having conversation with my students, I can even tell by conversation, I fear that anorexia will become a problem for them.   I have noticed this problem getting worse and worse in younger dancers each day.

Since I have my own dance classes, I have attended many seminars on dancers and anorexia.  These seminars have taught me why dancers feel the need to look like "stick figures."  We are taught how to guide our students away from this thinking matter, and not to focus on a dancer's "image" but on their technique.

Many dancers have the picture in their minds that if they are skinny, they will become better dancers, and they will  look better. What these dancer's don't understand is that you can be fit and thin without actually starving yourself.  Here are some safe ways to do this:

• Eating Healthy- Making sure that your not putting junk food into your system is very important.  The more unhealthy food you eat, the more weight you are going to gain, no matter how much you dance.  Eating healthy will give you more energy so that you can dance more, and it will help you stay fit.
• Exercise- If you exercise moderately and if you keep dancing, you will sure keep fit and feel better without starving yourself.  As a dancer, since your always moving, you need the nutrients to keep your body healthy and mobile.
• See A Nutritionist- If your a dancer, or know anyone who dances, and you sense yourself or them heading towards anorexia-suggest or go straight to a nutritionist.  A nutritionist will make a plan that specializes towards a dancer's body and workout.  They will help set a meal plan that will keep you healthy and fit at the same time.

Many dancers do not admit they have anorexia.  I know this because I can sense this just by teaching as much as I do.  It is important that everyone recognizes the signs of a dancer who is becoming anorexic and seek help.  The less a dancer eats, and dances/works out, the less energy she/he will have to dance.  This then will result in a sick dancer.

Some signs that a dancer is becoming anorexic are:

• Excessive dancing
• Excessive working out
• Constantly checking their body in the mirror before and after they dance
• Not eating before and after dance sessions

It is important that we notice these signs and seek help.

www.webmd.com

Why is ballet so important?

Why is ballet one of the most important dances to do?
This is the number questions asked amongst all parents whose children are just starting to dance. 
Ballet was the first type of dance ever made.  It is the basis of all types of dance.  In one way or another, you will use a type of ballet move in your dance class. 
Ballet dancers use a barre to stretch and warm up.  This is the core of fundamentals for dance.  
Ballet is a vital class for dance because of the following reasons:

• Footwork gains precision and speed
• Muscles become more pliable and warm
• More ballet helps body prepare for more jumps and leaps
• Flexibility and strength in the dancer will increase
• Ballet improves a dancer's balance

The more a dancer does ballet, the stronger that dancer will get, because it takes a lot of muscle in their ankles, legs, arms, and back to do ballet. 
Ballet also alows greater body awareness, breath, and control.  Ballet also gives you great posture and it helps with back and bone problems when you get older.
Ballet is such a beautiful dance.  It is graceful, and the classical music fits the dance.  When you first start with ballet, you will fall in love with dance, and that will make you want to try other types of dancing. 
Ballet also teaches you 5 basic foot positions that you will use in every other type of dance.
Also, ballet lets you challenge yourself, because it gets harder and harder each year and level you do it.  It lets you challenge yourself in ways you did not even know you could be challenged.
Ballet is also good for your mind and helps you deal with stress related situations like any other exercise.
It is important for boys to do ballet as well as it for girls.  Boys will benefit from the same reasons from ballet as girls will.  We need more boy ballet dancers in this world for lifting purposes. 
Ballet allows you to be light on your feet and it keeps you fit because it helps you burn a lot of calories.  The more ballet you do, the more muscle you will gain and the more calories you will burn.  Ballet gives you that full workout that you would go to the gym for. 
Having a ballet background will make any other type of dance a lot more easier for you because you will have the basic fundamentals.  You will enjoy the other types of dance because it will come easier for you because you've done ballet.  I think everyone should try ballet because it is relaxing and even though it might seem hard at first, it is a lot of fun and will make dancing a whole lot easier. 

How to Warm Up and Stretch before Dancing

Hey guys,
Today I'm posting about warming up and stretches for dancers. Stretching and warming up is extremely important for dancers before they even begin to start dancing.  Dancers should stretch and warm up before and after they dance.  This helps their muscles from cramping and makes them nice and warm.  Warming up and stretching should only take up to 30 minutes before you start dancing.  It does not take up that much time, and in the end you will get better results when it comes to dancing. 
You should mostly start warm-ups before you dance, and cool down after with stretches.  Warm ups will decrease your chance of injury and increase your ability to learn "dance" better.
A really good warm up to start with before dancing is a cardio vascular one.  This gets the heart rate up and the blood pumping through the body.  It also helps warm up your body.  If you start dancing with a cold body, your muscles will only start to stiffen up. 
There are 5 different types of warm-ups that are important to dance.  Many times a different style of dance has different warm-ups but here are the 5 major warm-ups for all styles:

5 TOP WAYS TO WARM UP TO DANCE:

• Neck Isolations- Sowly move your neck left to right or just slowly drop your head and gently swing it side to side.
• Hip Swings- Move your hips to the right then left without moving any other part of your body.
• Heel Raises- Stretch your calves and your hamstrings.  Bring your heels off the ground and then slowly bring them back to the ground. Your legs should be straight here, and as a dancer you feet should always be turned out as you're doing any kind of foot or ankle exercises.
• Leg Swings-Swing  legs back and forth or side by side
• Lunge Stretch-Used for stretching muscles of your lower body. start with feet together and then lunge one foot behind you.

I also want to talk about some important stretches and warm ups just for ballet, since my blog is mostly about that.
For ballet, stretching on the bar is one of the most important stretches you can do.  To do this, you should place your foot on the highest bar keeping your leg straight. Keep you other leg straight standing on the floor. Your body is turned in, and your leaning into the bar.  You can also try leaning away from the bar if you think you can hold your balance.

Another good ballet stretch is the butterfly.  This is when your feet are touching heel to heel and you lean you're body towards your feet.

There are also these big stretchy rubber-band that when you sit down and keep your legs straight and rest your toes or heels on the rubberband and pull the rubberband towards you with your legs still straight. 
Lastly, another good stretch is when you go through all the 5 dance positions and the hand positions that go with them.

It is extremely important that you warm up and stretch because it decreases injury and makes you more flexible and adjile to move. 

How to Take Care of Your "Dancing Feet"

Having healthy feet is very important when you are a dancer.  If your feet are not healthy, it can cause you to not be able to continue dancing. 

Here are some common problems that I have found when it comes to a dancer’s foot:

•         Pinched toes

•         Aching arches

•         Tingling nerves

•         Throbbing heels

•         Ingrown toenails

•         Ankle injuries

No dancer deserves to have any of these foot problems.    Here are some ways to prevent all these horrible feet problems from happening:

•         Always wear dance shoes that fit you ( Or any other shoe for that matter)

•         Never walk barefoot on the grass, concrete, or hot sand. There is fungus lying debris that can lodge into your foot.  Also the hot sun can cause blisters and soreness to your toes and heals.

•         Always wear comfortable sneakers while taking long walks, even though you are not dancing, having blisters from uncomfortable shoes while walking, will make your feet 10x worse when you start dancing.

•         Always warm up and stretch your feet before dancing and cool down after dancing.

•         If you start to see cuts on your feet, take care of it right away before it gets worse.

•         Use a pumice stone to take off any dry skin, or dead calluses.

If you see that your foot problem seems to get worse, you should consult a doctor.  Dancing on a twisted ankle and damaged toes is not healthy and it can make it a lot worse.  Sometimes if you let your foot injury go too long, surgery might need to be required to fix the problem.

If  have ingrown toenails, make sure you cut them down right away and bandage them up, especially if you are planning to put pointe shoes back on.  Getting sweat and dirt into these cuts from dancing can cause bad infections. 

Blisters are extremely common with dancers.  If you have a closed blister, you should leave it closed unless the pressure from inside the shoe gets too much.  The closed blister will heal on its own without getting bacteria and dirt in it.  If you have an open blister, you should wash it out immediately with soup and water and bandage it right away.  Dirt and sweat will only infect the blister. 

Dancing with foot infections will take the joy out of dancing and is not fun for any dancer! You can trust me on that one!

How Dawn KettermanBenner Started Her Dancing Carreer

 I have interviewed Dawn KettermanBenner.She tells us how she got started being a dancer, and how she started Moravian Dance Company.   She is the dance founder and director of the Moravian Dance Team.  She has been working at Moravian since 1971 and started the dance company in 1975.

Dawn was eight years old when she started dancing.  Her parents enrolled her in dance classes at a local dance school where she lived and she loved taking lessons and doing recitals. 

KettermanBenner danced in highschool where she even got to choreograph the high school plays.  In college, she did not continue with dance because she was involved in four other sports.  When she was hired at Moravian she decided to resume her dance training. 
She decided to start the company because of Moravian's strong emphasis on the arts.  She thought that dance was a "must" at Moravian College.  Also that year she was the founder of the Lehigh Valley Dance Forum and LVAIC Dance Consortium.  The forum no longer exists, but the Consortium is still alive and running.

Dawn was the director/ choreographer of the company from 1975-2000.  After that she decided to hire Artistic Directors to run the company. She continues to choreograph concerts and special dance events, and she is presently the faculty advisor of the company for 37 years.
The normal practices consist of the requirement of a minimum of two technique classes per week and the attendance of performances and master classes.  During the spring semester the dancers are required to continue with their technique and practice for their recital in March, Dawn says.

 Dawn says that being faculty advisor does not require that much work.  Right now she is responsible for the guest artists who perform at the concerts. 
KettermanBenner says that her favorite part about being the founder/director of the company is that she loves the creative process and being involved with the student dancers and current directors.  She also loves being involved with the alumni dancers who created the Dawn KettermanBenner Dance Fund which suppors present and future dance activities for the dancers at Moravian. 

"My most favorite part about the performances is the sheer joy I see on the dancers' faces when they perform, and the improvement in their technique.  I also really enjoy the creative student choreography." says Kettermen Benner.
At the present time, Dawn is in charge of:

• homecoming performance
• performances with the music department
• annual spring recital

Apart from the dance company, Dawn is also involved in:

• Associate Athletic Director
• Senior Women's Administrator of Athletics
• Chairperson of physical education Department
• Women's tennis coach
• Full time Professor

Dawn states that everyone should come to the dance recital in March.  There are about 400+ people that come enjoy it and they have full houses every night. 

Dawn believes that the Moravian Dance Company is one of Moravian's crown jewels.  The dancers work extremely hard and they are very good.  Memebers from the audience often comment and think that the dancers are dance majors.  Before Dawn retires she hope that dance will be apart of the fine arts major or minor.