14 DAY TRIAL // It would appear that there are, indeed, other benefits to dancing than just keeping fit and having fun, people are coming to realize. Experts are saying that learning how to dance the cha-cha-cha, waltz, or quickstep could do wonders for children's self esteem, and could also help other pupils gain more self-control and temper. The new study that came to this conclusion was conducted on more than 2,500 kids, all part of the Essentially Dance scheme in the United Kingdom, and its results show that dancing may have a “huge impact on children's learning.”
The new scheme, which was partly created by dancers from the BBC TV show “Strictly Come Dancing,” really has the potential to help the young ones get a better sense of who they really are, Darren Bennett, one of the creators, says. “It has always been our dream that every young person should have the opportunity to learn Ballroom and Latin American dancing and finally this is being realized through Essentially Dance. It is exciting to see how successful it has become and we are looking forward to seeing the long-term results,” he adds, quoted by the BBC News.
Psychologists share that dancing from an early age can improve cooperation among young boys and girls. For a dance couple to succeed, be it at a school fare or at the international championships, its two members need to stay attentive to each other, and to communicate continuously. They also have to get along and compromise for the sake of dancing. Dr. Jeanne Keay, an expert from the Roehampton University, explains that, out of the 29 primary and secondary schools that were involved in the new study, all of them gave positive feedback on the initiative, to say the least. Most of the children were thrilled with excitement, and welcomed the challenge.
Keay has also shown that dancing improves other aspects of school life as well. Boys who would otherwise give anything to skip school were lining up to participate in the dance lessons, and the expert believes this happened because of the “disciplined and structured nature of ballroom and Latin dance. These boys, they usually can't get out of school fast enough and now they're giving up their free time to do this.”