It’s a new term, and that means a new term of ballet also! Our daughter has been doing ballet from the diddy age of two, and as someone who also danced throughout my childhood, I’m a firm believer in the fact that committing to dance classes from a young age teaches a range of valuable life skills. That’s why we’ve teamed up with BLOCH – the home of dance shoes and dancewear – in this back to ballet campaign where I wanted to share the benefits of ballet for kids:

Teaching commitment

Mondays can be hard work for the best of us. Obviously, my daughter would rather flop on the sofa on a Monday after school, but instead, Monday is ballet day. Going to ballet week after week on a Monday at 5.45pm, following on from after-school chess club is a massive mental challenge but has taught her mental-strength and self-discipline (mind over matter!) commitment, accountability and perseverance.

Unless she is ill, she shows up no matter how tired she is, or how awful the weather is outside, or whatever else the day has dealt her which has taught her the art of dedication and the need to just keep your chin up and carry on. Ultimately, ballet is hard work, and there are no shortcuts. That’s a great life lesson right there.

Developing a thick skin

I have experienced enough dance classes firsthand to know that it can be a tough pill to swallow, always getting critiqued on your dance technique and abilities. My daughter is a sensitive soul by nature, but ballet has taught her to take criticism, and learn that there is only feedback, not failure, and that instead of taking things personally, you simply channel it into getting better.

Attention to detail

In ballet, there is no room for sloppiness or a blasé  attitude. From making sure you are taking responsibility for getting ready all your ballet gear and the way you look, to your dance technique and the way you perform. It’s the micro that makes all the difference, and that attention to detail can be transferred to so many things in life.

Taking responsibility for yourself

Remembering your ballet and character shoes, remembering the choreography, taking on board and working the instruction into your technique and choreography. In ballet, the buck stops with you and always you, and that is a fantastic way of taking children to take responsibility for themselves from a young age.

Cooperation

You may not initially think about ballet as teamwork as it can feel like you are spending a lot of time honing your individual technique, but a ballet class is still a group activity. You are still working together in a shared space, being mindful of how you use and share that space together, and sometimes doing partner work or executing your part in a certain group order. All of this requires non-verbal cooperation and an awareness and respect for others.

So I think you’ll agree that these benefits of ballet make for great learning for our young people. Do you have a little one starting or going back to ballet this week? What do you think of the benefits of ballet listed above? Do share in a comment below.