Does dance help with school readiness and confidence?
We think so, and it's a large part of why the classes are built the way they are. A dance class asks a young child to do several things that map directly onto starting school: listen to an instruction and follow it, wait their turn, and work alongside other children they've only just met.
There's gentle numeracy and language woven in too — children listening to a teacher count time, usually one to eight, and learning to recognise their own name and their friends' names on arrival. It's a form of repetition that helps at home, at nursery and at pre-school, without ever feeling like a lesson.
Confidence builds the same way it does with any new skill: a child who has learned to stand up in front of a small, friendly group and try something new — and who has taken a small part in the annual show — carries that experience with them well beyond the studio.