Can tiny childrenlearn to dance?How young is too young?

Jane Albert finds that tots can do more than totter. Illustrations by Alice Smith

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hen our daughter Annie was born last year a fiiend gave her a gorgeousplnK tutu as a plesent to weicome her into the world. ' , It was a proper tutu from Bloch, and I remember tl.rinking it was a sweet present but one that really wouidn't get much use beyond being a prety sldrr. After all, the piece of gossamer material was barely larger than a handkerchief and surely my newborn would outgrow it befbre she could possibly be old enough to take a ballet class?Little did I know then thar she could potentially get started at as young as six months. How many little girls - let alone their mothers dream of the day they can buy their first leotard, slip into a pair ofpale pink stockingsand ba11et shoesand tie their. hair back into a tidy bun? Where once children had ro wart until they were five or older to enter the magical world of ballet, it is now possiblefor babiesto get involved, thanks to the number of schoolsinternationally that are now offering classes riny tots. fbr Babyballetsong and dance academyin the British town of Halifax is one such.Establishedin zoo5, it teachesbabiesaged six to r8 months and toddlers frorl r8-3o months, Founding director and mother of four Claire O'Connor saysthe school has been so popular she is now franchising it acrossthe country 'My mum was a traditional ballet teacher,but I wanted to create a more fun environment which would allow very young children r

to take part,' O'Connor told The Obseruer zoo9. ,We,re in teaching them from an eariy age so they can stand tall and have confidence.' Which is all well and good, but a sixmonth-old bub can barely sit on its own, much lesscrawl or walk. So what's the point? Of course,O'Connor'sclasses the very young are for age'appropriateand basedaround music and agility, rather than lbrmal ba11et. This rype of classhas been catching on. A study publishedby the University of york last year showed that babiesas young as five months o1dmove spontaneously music and rhythmic beats.Scientists to were at a loss to explain why humans had developed this predisposition,but noted that babiestend to smile more when they move. They also discoveredit was the beat rather than the melody that was stimulating the movement. Certainly as Annie has grown older we have taken great delight in watching her bob in hel high-chair the secondwe turn on any music. Rock'nrrollis the music du jour in our house and, just as the scientistsnoted, she certainly does move ro the beat. It seemsto mal<e sense,then. for dance teachersto harnessthis unselfconscious and.joyful responseto muslc in the very young, and try to nurture and encourage it into later lif'e.But just how young is too young and what can a young child really do? i went along to a Mini Movers classfor rwo and a half to three and a half yearolds at the A11 Stars Performing Arts School in Sydney, Australia. School director Nyrde Alexanderexplainedthat

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shebeganofferingthe classes to the high number due ofinquiries shehad received from parentsinterested in their youngchildrenlearningto dance,'Therewas a lot of demandfor tiny tots,'Alexander says.'Theclasses started off beingpure (RADsyllabus) ballet but we found that concentrating half an hour on propersyllabus for ballet wasway too hard; so we introducedsongandjazz and madeit more aboutcreativemovement with a ballet base.' Therewere only four littlies the day I went, but Alexander saysthey teachup to 6o a weekin the Mini Moversclasses. Michaela, Lily, Isabellaand Holly ail lookedthe part, dressed the regulationballet outfit in ofpink leotard,ballet slippersand socks, their hair pulledbackin a bun. Theybeganwith somestrerches, all takingpart enthusiasticaliy oncethe musicbegan and they caughtsight of themselves the wall-length in mirror.Theli,didbouncykneesandjumps,with hands on hips.Aleiander encouraged them to point their toes,but oncethey beganmore structured dancing in firstposition('lovelypieces ofpie'), Isabella attendingthe classfor the first time - lost interestand wanderedoff, armsoutstretched shetwirled around as 'We're the room, eyesskyvvard. Alexander continued, goingto do battementtendu- that'sa big fancyword, isn't it? And this time we're goingto haveparallelfeet.' But Isabella was interested only in spinningaround the room,while Michaela beganhoistingher tutu up aroundher shoulders.

It was a lovely happ5lsomewhat chaoticscene, And it lookedlike greatfun, Across town Stephanie Thompson was conducting Moversand Groovers the Mosman at Academy Dance:rwo half-hourclasses of with a breakin the middle,for one to three-year-olds. classis run in The conjunction with the locai day carecentre,whosecarers bring the childrento classand are on hand to takethem to the toilet or stepin when necessary allowingThompson to co,ncentrate the class, on Whereldst year'sMoversand Groovdrs morebalietic,teachingchildrento point was their toesand act out characters, Thompson explains that the focusis now more orriazz, albeitbuilt on the school's MD foundations. 'The aim isn't to haveit specifically alignedwith a 'I ballet class,' Thompson says. try to baseeachweek on a theme,suchasbugsor ants.Theywon't havea wide varietyof steps they get into the characterisation but and gain that sense stepping of themselves.' music of out The variesaccording what is popula4be it Disneyclassics to jumping and skippingand or Wiggles tunes.'It's basic galloping- we just want them to understand pointing; flexibility bendingand stretching and how the bodycan 'It move,'Thompson says. s not ballet,' By all accounts classis popula6with 15 the children- both boysand girls - attending. Three-yearold ScarlettMcDougall taken the classsinceshewas has 20 monthsold, and is alreadyitchingto begin a proper 'l classical ballet class. think it's greatbecause teaches it

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them a love of music and how to interpret music, a love of dance, and it's starting to teach co-ordination at an early age,' says Scarlett's mother Jasmin, also a dance teacher. 'Young chiidren may still have trouble speaking and can get so frustrated when they're not understood, so this is another way of expressingthemselves,' And there are plenry more benefits for the children. Not only does it help deveiop their gross motor skills and co-ordination, it enhancessocial skills and increasestheir spatial awareness,'Where does my body end? How far can we sffetch if there's someone next to me?, asks Thompson. 'Kids are so egocentrtc, it gives them an awarenessof others, and of working as a team.r The Ausualian organisation Gyrnbaroo has been promoting the mental and physiologicai benefits of movenent to music for the very young since it was founded in rg8z by Margaret Sasse,who discovered that movement activitiescould assistchildren with lear.ning difficulties. 'Many of these children hadn't gone through the normal development patteffrs of early childhood and this impacted on their learning late6'says Jane Williams, Gymbaroo's general manager and director of research and education. 'When Margaret got them rolling and tumbling their learning improved dramaticaliy.'

Gymbaroo caters for children from six weeks to.five years old, and around 32,ooo Austraiian children and their parents attend a class each week. The organisation has expanded to Europe, the USA and Asia. We stan at six weeks, but it can't be just any movement, it needs to replicate the automatic movement response that babies are born with - lying babies on their backs won't allow them to become mobile compared with lying them on their tummies,' Williams explains. When it comes to dancing, the level of interest from parents of young children was so high rhe RAD released a pre-primary syllabus in zoo9. illhat stands out is the need to keep movement simple, fun and imaginative, encouraging individualism and input from both teacher and child 'in order to capture and promote young

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children'sinstinctivejoy of movement and lieedom of expression.'Thebackgroundnotes to rhe syllabuscaution againstteaching the refined skills of classical bailet to children who are roo young, as this can impact their developmentand lead to feelingsof failure. ,Not oniy can the qualiry and future development of the movement be affected,but children can lose motivation and give up,'it says.Above ali else,it urges teachersto encourage children'scuriosiry and imagination. The directors of the Centre of Dancing Excellence stand firm in their belief that children younger than two and a half are simply too young to be taught ciassical bal1et.'Ballet is a discipline and we focus on the children having dedication and passion,'saysartistic director SharnaBaylis.'My main goal is technique.It's about giving

the child the steps at the right age and we don't believe that under fwo and a half is an appropriate age to be lealning ballet.' A11 the teachers I interviewed were well aware of the risks associated with forcing children to do things their bodies weren't yet capable of. 'We're not forcing anything on the children, I'm not srrerchingtheir bodiesto a range that they can't easily manage,'saysStephanieThompson. 'Im taldng what they're going to do anyway, such as skipping and balancing.I'm taking the funky aspectand reiating it to their lives - get out there and have a boogie!' And here Thompson has revealedthe main reason why baby ba1let,tiny tots, mini movers- whatever you chooseto call it - has been such a success: because all it's about having fun.

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