Does Dancing Really Help in Early Brain Development?

Just as there are contradictory statements in health and medicine (e.g. Are antioxidants really good for you? Is alkaline water good for our health?), there are also inconsistencies in the benefits of dancing and performing arts to brain development.

After all, it’s like we’re never meant to understand the true workings of the organ that powers our actions and emotions. Although we’ve made significant progress in understanding matter and the origins of the universe, it seems having a thorough understanding of the brain is still far off.

Does dancing really help in early brain development?

When it comes to dancing (and if it really helps in early brain development), the answers might not be definite or exact as you might expect. Let’s discuss the reasons and thinking process for that.

For example, there are studies that suggest dancing and performing arts are beneficial to early childhood development (cognitive, social, emotional). But is that really the case? Is it causality or correlation?

If it’s causality, performing arts directly affect brain development. But if it’s just a correlation, perhaps it’s just a coincidence or a third “unseen” factor is driving the benefits. In other words, A and B are correlated but there’s C that actually causes things to happen.

In dancing, it’s possible that there’s something aside from dancing that really affects early childhood brain development. For instance, enrolling your child to a dance class might mean you’re living in a developed society and you have the means to get the best things for your child. It’s very likely that your child is in the right environment where his/her brain development can be optimised. It’s like saying your child is positioned for success in the first place.

But does this mean enrolling your child to a dance class won’t benefit him/her at all? Should you just allow things to go their way without giving certain advantages and privileges to your child?

There are still direct benefits to enrolling your child to a dance class. Learning how to dance takes focus, practice and discipline and as you’ve already realised, this is also vital when learning new concepts and skills (whether academic or not). In addition, it’s a great chance to develop social skills because your child will be able to interact with fellow kids.

Earlier we also talked about being in the right environment. It’s also important to see and get exposed to different environments because this helps in widening someone’s horizon and understanding (plus having a variety of experiences). This can be accomplished by having overseas dance tours (such as what we facilitate here at Dance on Q). We had students who travelled to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Anaheim in the USA (they had the opportunity to perform at Universal Studios, Disneyland, Hollywood Boulevard and Citadel Outlets).

In April 2020 students will be travelling to Orlando, Florida USA to perform at Disney World and Universal Studios. This is an amazing opportunity for students to get exposed to another environment and build their confidence as they perform in front of a different audience.

It’s true that dancing goes beyond learning and brain development (also having fun and a variety of experience). Here at Dance on Q we always make sure of that. Contact us today if you require more information about our dance classes for kids and overseas dance tours.