Contemporary dance is a style of dance that combines elements of ballet, modern, and jazz. It is often danced to contemporary music and can be choreographed to tell a story or express emotions.
If your child is a creative explorer and showing interest in the performing arts, then modern/contemporary dance is perfect for them!
Below we list some of the key factors involved in contemporary dance classes to help you decide if this style of dance is right for your child.
Key Factors of Contemporary Dance
Many parents find that contemporary dance classes are a wonderful approach to teaching coordination and flexibility to children. At Performing Dance Arts in Toronto, contemporary dance lessons are welcoming to everyone, regardless of their age or skill level, and will help your kids learn new moves while staying active and having a good time.
Here are some key components of contemporary dance classes.
Strength and Flexibility
The contemporary dance style focuses on core strength for flexible movement, and it emphasizes muscular strength in the torso. Make sure your child does adequate warm-ups in a class by doing yoga or stretching activities to release tense muscles to avoid discomfort and pain later.
Freedom of Expression
One of the key elements that separate contemporary dance from other styles is the focus on expression. Contemporary dancers strive to convey emotion and story through their movements, making each performance unique. It is critical for novices to understand the choreographer’s aesthetic and learn from their instructor’s method. You may develop your own approach and dance style once you’ve mastered it.
Warm-Ups
A contemporary dance class is very physically demanding and it is important that your child is performing proper warm-ups in class and before performances. Warm-ups in contemporary dancing are intended to enhance balance, coordination, alignment, and body awareness. They also help to prevent injuries by increasing the range of motion in the joints and stretching the muscles.
Stretching
Stretching is an essential component of any dance routine. Flexibility is important for contemporary dances, which need the ability to create innovative shapes. The goal of these dance stretching exercises is to reduce the risk of injury while performing.
Performing deep lunges, splits, leg swings, and neck isolations are all great stretches that help contemporary dancers prevent injury while practicing.
Floor Work
In contemporary dance classes, floor work is an essential component. Floor work involves performing exercises while standing in the middle of the room or traveling from one end to the other across the floor.
These activities help to improve contemporary dancers’ balance, coordination, and strength. They also allow dancers to explore different ways of moving their bodies. Because contemporary dance is all about performing big steps, exercises in which you move across the floor in a wide manner are especially useful for performance preparation.
Combinations
Combinations are a series of dance moves put together to create a routine. They are generally the final component of contemporary dance routines, in which fundamentals from warm-ups, stretching, and floor work are combined to create one contemporary dance sequence.
Can You Learn Contemporary Dance Yourself?
You can do anything if you put your mind to it. There are plenty of online resources if your child is looking to learn contemporary dance at home including tutorials and articles.
However, if you want your child to learn the correct form and technique and, most importantly, be safe, it is always better to join a reputable local dance studio like Performing Dance Arts that teaches contemporary dance. This ensures your child is receiving proper training and feedback from a licensed and professional instructor and that they will have the benefit of getting on-stage professional contemporary dance opportunities.
Enroll Your Child at Performing Dance Arts
Performing Dance Arts is the leading provider of children’s dance programs in Vaughan and North York. Our children’s dance classes in Toronto are designed to help your child do what they love—dance—while improving their skills and learning new moves along the way.
If you’re looking for a contemporary dance class for your child, look no further than our studios—we offer contemporary dance classes for children of all dance levels.
Contact us today to register your child or to learn more about our contemporary dance classes.
