Learning Dance Improves Everything: So why aren't all American parents demanding dance be in their kids' curriculum?

Abstract

Learning dance improves everything—or at least enough to require it in every child’s education So why aren’t all American parents calling their kids’ schools to demand dance be incorporated into the curriculum? by Emily Guerard After 16 years of dance training, I still hear people say dance is an extra, just a hobby, disregarding its importance and value. I guess they think dance is just twirling around in circles, and it didn’t teach me anything about life. In a way, I understand—dance is at the bottom of the arts ranking system in America. As dance critic Joan Acocella notes, “That’s been the case ever since the fourth century when the church took over the arts and banished dance from public religious ceremonies” (Mainwaring 3). Would this lack of dance appreciation change if people knew the vital benefits of dance? What if America’s school system installed a dance education class in its curriculum that was as important as science? Would more people begin to appreciate dance at a young age? During the 2009 to 2010 school year, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducted a nationwide study on dance in all public elementary schools. Only three percent of public elementary schools taught dance as a separate subject, 44 percent of schools taught dance as part of physical education, and 29 percent of schools integrated dance into other curriculum areas. On the other hand, 90 percent of public elementary schools across the nation taught general music to kids. There are many reasons why dance should be in the school curriculum. Dance is unique from the other arts because of the abundant physical benefits it can bring at any age, like enhancing cardiovascular health and strengthening weight-bearing bones like the tibia, fibula, and the femur (Alpert 155). Dance also helps increase flexibility, endurance, balance, spatial awareness, muscle strength and tone, improved posture, and an overall sense of wellbeing (155). In addition, dance helps the brain compute faster, creates new neural pathways, and heightens blood supply to the brain (155, 156). Dance increases activity in the prefrontal and temporal regions of the brain leading to memory, attention, and multitasking improvement (156). Elevation in mood is a common response from dancing, as well. An article on physical exercise habits in a child’s life states the importance to “promote and (re)establish exercise habits early in life so they may persist into adult years” (Aarts 364). In the New England Journal of Medicine, a 21-year study revealed that dancing regularly could reduce your risk of dementia and prevent Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly (Alpert 156). So why aren’t American families calling their local schools and demanding incorporation of this essential art form? A dance education would not only help kids gain the health benefits of dance, but help cultivate and improve creativity, which is essential for a child’s development. People who do not support this idea might believe creativity is unimportant to a kid’s education and future jobs, that reading, writing, mathematics, and science teach fundamental concepts better with their concrete frameworks. What does dance have to do with it? Children must learn at a young age to develop creativity for future careers. America’s economy needs creative minds to work to improve American society: “…creative people are the critical resource of the new