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Include Contemporary Dance in your PE for these reasons…

Are you the PE specialist in your school?

Do you teach dance as part of your curriculum?

Read on to discover why Contemporary Dance will benefit the children in your school.

Dancing is a fun activity to do, especially for children.  There’s something exciting about moving your body to music you love – even a boogie in the privacy of your own home can be enough to put a smile on your face and lift your mood.

And whilst this might be based on subjective experience, there’s science to back it up too.

Dr Lovatt explains in the Telegraph that ‘You appear to get a much bigger release of endorphins when you dance than during other forms of exercise; it also connects with the emotional centres of the brain’.  Dance helps to decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is why you often feel much more relaxed afterwards.

What is the best kind of dance to boost wellbeing?

Any kind of dance is going to provide some benefit to wellbeing, so whatever you are already teaching to your class will give them a good boost of serotonin.

How can Contemporary Dance help your pupils?

Relaxation

As well as making you feel happy, doing Contemporary Dance promotes feelings of relaxation.  Rather than forcing the body into shapes and lines, the focus is on moving freely in and out of position.  So if you have stressed out or anxious pupils, participating in a contemporary class will help them to release tension in the body and therefore help calm the mind.

The breath is very important in Contemporary Dance and movements are often performed as the dancer breathes in or out.  Having this self-awareness of the breath helps to ground children and teaches them techniques they can then apply in their own daily lives away from class.

Balance, strength and effective learning

Movements you might find in a Contemporary Class may include rolling, swinging, handstands and slides.  Although these actions underpin the technique of Contemporary they are coincidentally exactly the types of movements that children need to be doing to develop their physical literacy.  We all have a vestibular system, which is like an internal GPS for the body guiding it through the space and supporting its balance.  Therefore, movements that send the body off balance by tipping, falling, spinning and rolling all help to improve the vestibular system, which is increasing underdeveloped in children.  (See this article here for more information on its decline).   Those with a strong balance system are better equipped to learn – they are more able to sit still because they have a strong core and are therefore able to listen and function much more effectively in the classroom.  So Contemporary provides a strong framework for developing not only wellbeing, but the foundations for supporting lifelong learning.

Interested in learning more about Contemporary Dance?

Bring one of our specialists into your school to deliver high quality one-off or regular dance activity with your classes.  All dance activities provide opportunity for children to learn technique, perform and appreciate, as well as develop creativity through improvisation and choreography.  Our workshops are positive, inclusive and inspire boys (as well as girls) to enjoy dance.

Or…why not book a ‘Wellness Workshop’ for your year 6 children, which are available during Autumn and Spring Term?

What our workshop covers…

  • A fun Contemporary Dance class that inspires boys, as well as girls, to enjoy dance
  • Movements that focus on releasing muscle tension and increasing blood circulation
  • Stretching techniques to calm the mind
  • Breathing techniques to de-stress
  • Practical ideas the children can take away to try as a class or on their own

All you need to provide us with is a clear space (such as a hall) and some Year 6 children (up to 35 per session).

Price: £50 for a one-hour session, £125 for a half-day workshop

Email [email protected] for more information and to book a workshop.

 

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