Dance and early childhood cognition: The Isadora Effect

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article proposes the existence of an Isadora Effect: the propositions that motor development plays a primal role in brain development, and the first understanding of symbolic meaning among young children occurs from an understanding of movement and gesture. Anecdotal evidence for the past few decades has demonstrated that dance education and the early use of symbolic movement greatly enhance cognitive development in young children. The author presents (a) background and historical information about dance in early childhood in the United States; (b) research in which physical, emotional, and social development has served the backbone for rationalizing inclusion of dance in early education; (c) The Isadora Effect in early childhood dance education and its relationship to cognitive development, brain development, and intelligence; (d) the 21st Century Skills in relation to early childhood development and dance education; and (e) early childhood dance education and the National Core Arts Standards. The author makes three recommendations for improving the development of American youth relative to early childhood dance education: increased inclusion of creative movement and dance in early childhood curricula, scientific study by the pediatric and neurological communities to investigate effects of motor development and early symbolic movement on brain development and cognitive growth, and ways dance educators can communicate with policy makers about the kinds of support needed to make the first two recommendations a reality.