Do you need to send your child to a kids dance school or are there better options out there? Let’s find out!
These days, you can pretty much learn everything you need on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms. Want to learn cooking? Watch a video. What about self-defence? Video. Painting? You guessed it: video.
The same goes for dancing. Whatever style your child wants to learn, there’s a big chance you’ll find a video (or hundreds of videos) showing them how to do it.
Does this mean you no longer need to send your child to a kids dance school? Why pay for lessons when you can just watch videos for free, right? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. Learning exclusively from online videos comes with its fair share of limitations. Let’s take a look at some of them below:
Online dance videos have no structure
In most cases, the people who produce online dance tutorials do so without following a set curriculum. They just shoot and post whatever they want. And even when they do create an entire playlist dedicated to a specific dance style or technique, it’s often limited in scope, and at times, also leads to an upsell to paid dance classes or some other form of monetisation.
Compare that with dance classes at a reputable kids dance school where there’s a set curriculum designed to take your child from absolute beginner to professional performer using methods that have produced countless successful dancers before.
When you look at it this way, dance classes are obviously the clear choice if you want your child to actually master the art and maybe even make a career out of it in the future.
But this isn’t the only area sending your child to a kids dance school beats having them watch online dance videos.
Online dance videos provide zero feedback
Unlike training in a kids dance school setting, learning from videos at home does not give your child access to immediate expert feedback and guidance regarding their form and technique. This, in turn, could lead to the formation of bad habits that may not only slow your child’s progress down, but also put them at risk of getting injured.
So, unless you’re a professional dance instructor yourself—that or your child is already proficient enough to self-correct—a kids dance school is still the better choice. Keep in mind that the longer your child practices with improper form and technique, the more challenging it becomes for them to switch to proper form and technique in the future. At the end of the day, it’s better to start them off the right way than try to fix problems later on.
Online dance videos don’t help build discipline
When you sign your child up for classes at an actual kids dance school, you get access to professional dance instructors who will not only motivate, but also keep them accountable.
Compare this with just having them watch online dance videos. There’s a big chance they’ll only do so when they feel like it—especially considering how many things are constantly vying for their attention at home. In fact, even the social platforms themselves where these dance videos are uploaded are not really designed to help your child focus.
Take YouTube for example. As of May 2019, over 500 hours of video was being uploaded to the platform every single minute. That’s about 30,000 hours of new video content per hour or 720,000 per day. With that much new content competing for your child’s attention every single day, how can you expect them to concentrate on learning how to dance?
Sending them to a kids dance school instead solves this problem. Not only does it provide your child with a space (and schedule) dedicated to just dancing, it also gives them a chance to practice with people who are also there to just dance.
Online dance videos have zero quality control
Another downside to having your child learn dancing via online videos is that virtually anyone can put out a dance tutorial. The poster does not even have to be good at it, much less have the qualifications and experience required to run a successful kids dance studio. They just need a decent camera and a space to shoot in and they’re good to go.
This means that unless you know how to identify a competent dance instructor, you might end up with someone who either has mediocre dancing skills or someone who dances well but has zero teaching capabilities
But what about online dance classes?
If online videos are not a good idea for someone who wants to take dancing seriously, are paid online dance classes any better?
Well, that ultimately depends on the set up of the classes you’re looking at. Here are three important questions you should ask before making a decision:
- Are they live or pre-recorded?
- Do they watch the students practice via webcam?
- Is the dance studio behind it reputable?
First, if the classes are pre-recorded, then they’re practically the same as online videos on YouTube. You’re pretty much just paying for a more structured YouTube playlist.
Second, if the classes don’t require your child to have a webcam so the instructors can monitor their form and guide them throughout each session, then they’re no good too. What’s the use of paying for professional dance instruction if it only entails the instructor demonstrating each lesson and then moving on to the next one without actually checking if your child learned anything, right?
Third, at the end of the day, the quality of dance instruction relies heavily on the quality of the studio providing it. So, if the team behind the classes you’re looking at have virtually zero experience, certifications, awards, and other notable accomplishments, then you can’t really expect much.
The bottom line: yes, you need to send your kids to a dance school
It’s your only option if you want them to master the art form and have the option to make a successful career out of it in the future. The only reason to go with online dance videos or pre-recorded classes is if your child is only looking to dance as a hobby.
Of course, the only way to find out if your child would want to go all-in or just dabble is to let them experience attending an actual class at a reputable kids dance school. Sign them up for a free trial class here at Visions Dance Academy in Matthews, NC today!
