I know nothing about dance and I have a tween son who is very into hip hop and tap. What should I be doing to encourage him?
Should he take ballet? I see some girls taking a class daily- should he do that?
And then thinking way ahead what does it look like to have dance as your main EC?
Some classical training in ballet never hurts. At my kids’ private school, many male athletes would take it off season for agility, balance, flexibility, and core strength. If you son is willing, have him take some ballet and see if he likes it. It can be truly beneficial.
No issue with having dance as an EC, IMO. Schools know the hours and commitment.
My D’s main EC was dance. I also have a nephew who did a lot of dance, who is now a professional performer.
FYI there is a “Dance Major” section on CC, which may be jumping the gun, since he’s a tween and not thinking about majors, but you might get a lot of good advice from other dance parents:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/dance-major/
I think ballet is encouraged for most dancers - it’s a good foundation.
Guys who can dance are often in demand - there are way more girls who dance! My S’s main EC was singing, but he also took dance so he could get better roles in shows.
Both my dancing D and singing S ended up at top LACs. They had good grades, high test scores, and other ECs as well.
For my D, it took up the majority of her time from age 12 - 18. She frequently evaluated whether the time spent was worth it, as many dancers drop out as they get older, but she didn’t drop it, and even danced as an EC in college. I think it’s similar to athletics in the lessons/skills it teaches: practice, dedication, confidence, physical fitness, teamwork, leadership, etc.
Good for your son! D has been taking dance since she was 4-and started with a community center hip hop class taught by a young man right out of high school. We lucked out in that he was also the captain of the most successful hip hop group around-they’d won so many competitions that teams would refuse to compete against them. Ask your son if he knows who the good teams are in your area and see if any of the members teach classes. A good instructor in hip hop will incorporate other genres into their classes as D’s teacher has. There’s a group here that runs a studio for kids of all ages-even adults-do a search for hip hop classes and see what’s out there.
That said, ANY form of dance will help with any others-the agility and movements naturally flow into others. But depending on just how interested your son is, look at the community center type classes first. They’re cheaper, more flexible, and don’t have uniform requirements. D does another form of dance now, but her hip hop training remains crucial to the basics of dance discipline. Tell your boy to have fun!
Get him into ballet! It is the foundation of all dance. A twice a week 1.5 hr class to start, by a good instructor who does corrections on alignment, etc. He may balk but it truly helps with musical timing and proper foot placement and body awareness. It also gives a lot of strength and flexibility.
Ballet is the foundation of all dance. At my kid’s ballet school, kids had to have few years of ballet training before they could enroll in other forms of dance.
Both of kids had ballet as their main EC. They didn’t go professional, but it taught them many life lessons. They benefited greatly from dance. Their pediatrician also told them that ballet was great to build bone density, so the would have less chance of breaking their hips when they get old. Now they are older, they continue to take dance lessons for recreational purpose.
Thanks everyone. Is there a traditional path in dance? Like if you are a soccer player it seems to be Ayso>club teams. Or if you’re a science person it seems to be advanced camps>lab internships>science fairs
What are the milestones for dancers?
A young dancer would generally start at a local dance studio. If your kid is serious, I would ask around for a studio that teaches good technique rather than for the glitz. After few years, good dancers will often try out for summer intensive programs. Many dance company, like ABT, SAB, San Fran Ballet, Pacific Northwest, the Rock school…have summer programs. They are quite selective. Kids with real talent will go full time after summer intensive if that’s the path they want to pursue. A friend’s son is at SAB after spending two summers there. My kids spent many summers at ABT, but I didn’t encourage them to go full time.
http://balletscoop.com/2013/12/02/2014-summer-intensives-list/
OP, you’re getting some good advice about BALLET paths, but honestly, if hip hop or breakdance is your son’s interest, he will not need to be looking into prestigious companies or big studios. I’m not kidding when I tell you that one of the best hip hop groups around here works out of a community center. And a group of breakdancers that came close to winning America’s Best Dance Crew a few years back here runs a kid’s studio in a “less selective” part of town. Your son may know which groups are out there-I would go to one of their shows and see what they suggest, or what studio, if any, their associated with. In D’s class, the kids learned aspects of ballet, tap, African dance, contemporary, all of that, but believe me, if he’s into hip hop, he’s going to want hip hop taught by people who know HIP HOP, which is simply not going to be as much of a thing at, say, the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Those kids get Nutcracker parts, but they’re not the ones winning the hip hop battles.
Dance is one of D’s most intensive EC’s. She now dances with her church in what is called praise dance. All of her hip hop training has come in handy in choreographing her dances. Her original teacher still teaches kids-and adults, for those who want more interesting workouts than the more common aerobics classes out there.
No hip hop knowledge here. My input was in reference to “tradition path to dance.” My kids had to take modern and jazz, but no hip hop at her studio. When D1 went to a Governor school for dance she had to do hip hop and she was able to pick it up pretty quickly.
My kids all took dance. D1 was especially serious. It was a significant EC in her app. As all have said,you must do ballet.
In my very small “city”, there have been numerous students who have gone on to have successful dance careers. Rockettes and now a dancer in the hit Broadway show Hamilton. Another co-dancer majored in dance at Stamford.
NYC Ballet goes up to up-state NY in the summer to Saratoga Springs.They have a young ballet program that is very selective and has excellent instruction. Friend that attended Stamford was accepted. D1 never tried out, but was encouraged. I am the one who discouraged it. D1 never indicated that this was her chosen profession.just a very strong extra curricular passion.
When you choose a ballet school, assuming you live in a place where you have a variety of choices, look for a place that has other male students/knows how to train boys. I’ve seen boys who come out of all female studios dancing like a female instead of a male. There’s a difference. I agree with @oldfort about focusing on technique instead of glitz/performance. If you are going to put the money into it and your son the time, focus on getting good training from the start. It can be hard to unlearn bad technique.
Where we live, at all of the studios boys pay 50% of the tuition that girls do for ballet classes, because boys are in such demand! By all means, get him into ballet 1-2x per week as a foundation. However, make sure he takes hip hop and maybe some improv as well. If one does ballet exclusively, one risks becoming a “bunhead,” that is, having difficulty with freer styles of movement.
If he gets serious, there are also summer intensives in a variety of dance genres. Joffrey (NY, not Chicago) has some modern/contemporary/jazz programs across the country that are very good. Just be warned that it can get pricey - I know parents who call summer “intensives,” “expensives.” Even with a tuition scholarship, room, board and travel can add up!