Teaching Children
Teaching dance to children, especially young children, requires specific educational skills. Here again, there are two options from which parents may choose.
The Nursery Option (Keeps children busy)
In the nursery option, the purpose of the lesson is to allow children to play and dance together. The only objective of this method is for young students to enjoy moving together and being together.
Lessons are essentially based on repetition, which allows the students to dance together until the group becomes a single unit.
The ability of the instructor to liven up the class accompanied by a variety of exciting music guarantees that the students will experience joy while learning Tahitian dance.
The Educational Leisure Option
It is possible for dance to be educational and recreational at the same time. Children can learn to dance while simultaneously learning about their bodies, how to utilize the space around them, and how to incorporate their body movements into this space.
In the Educational Leisure Option, children will learn that in order to become a true part of any group, they must first master the art of individual study, alone. This method of instruction requires that each child be corrected individually. It calls for a deeper understanding of the art and not only imitation ability.
Generally speaking, children will learn the following elements:
-rhythmic training,
-body weight transfer training, which is the basis for Tahitian technique: the first thing that children will learn in dance class is how to walk. Students must be aware of the weight transfer from right to left that accompanies a walking pattern,
-the relationship between sound and movement,
-the relationships between language, words, movements, and gestures,
-movements in space, following a rhythm (1,2,3,4).
The act of teaching “some” dances to children is meant as a form of entertainment. It is a respectable choice that parents must make.
However, it is important to keep in mind that a 4-year-old girl cannot be converted into a ballerina over the time span of a single year.
Learning to dance is a long-term process no matter if it is Ori Tahiti or any other dance style that is sought.
