Dance Class For Kids: Introduce Your Child To Excellence.
Kids dance classes are not all equal and placing your child in an excellent dance school is not easy. That is, if you care to enroll them in a dance school that offers wide ranging benefit. We know how busy you are and how tempting the lure is to look for 'kids dance classes near me', but you should resist. Do you assume that all dancing classes for kids are alike? They are not. The range in quality is staggering.
This page is a summary that will introduce you to American Dance Institute's Children's Program mission, approach, reasoning and your child's golden opportunity.
Testimonial
"
"Enroll your children in the American Dance Institute and relax. "
"It was here, at the American Dance Institute, that we, as parents, realized that we could relax and enjoy watching the growth of my daughter's dance skills. She was never made to feel that she wasn't good enough. She was always excited to come, every time. I think it is partially due to the culture here which is welcoming, comfortable and has an inviting atmosphere for children of all ages, genders, for adults and parents, everybody. It is like a neighborhood community school."
Ebba Lucander- Entrepreneur, Activist, ADI Parent for 5 years
A Kid's Dance Program That Expands their Awareness Of The World Around Them.
Kids love to move and when you play music, they dance around the room. Observe them closely and you will notice that they repeat the same movements over and over. They not only have a limited early speaking vocabulary, they have a limited early movement vocabulary.
"
"We teach to the whole child incorporating intellect, creativity and discipline. These are the building blocks for a successful life filled with creative structure, confidence and achievement."
Elizabeth Chayer - Founder/Director, American Dance Institute
Dance Class For Kids: Creating Relationships With The World Around Them.
As they become familiar with movement concepts, they can understand points of reference and perspective. For example, they will take one movement that feels very familiar in their body and with our instructor’s guidance make it into a dozen different movement variations. They'll try it high, try it low, try it backwards, upside down, with a partner etc. It’s all wrapped in fun creative themes and it opens up unlimited possibilities to move, express and relate to the world around them.
"
"Children have a limited early speaking vocabulary and a limited early movement vocabulary. We teach both using dance training as the vehicle."
Elizabeth Chayer - Founder/Director, American Dance Institute
Early Dance Education: An Essential Foundation For A Lifetime Of Achievement!
Our dancing class for kids program leverages a child's love of movement with a movement vocabulary and we build on that vocabulary to help them define the physical and social world around them. Dance is more than physicality, it involves intellect, creativity, and discipline. Our dance program helps a child develop richer context and perspective. Kid's love our dance classes because they are fun. We make learning dance fun because it works.
A Dance Class For Kids - Your Young Child Is Not Ready For Competition
Very young children should NOT compete against one another. In American Dance institute's kids dance classes, we emphasize non-competitive behavior. Competition has it's place in the world but young children are not ready for it. They lack the proper framework to understand it's fierce nature. In our kids dancing classes, children are taught to compete with themselves, not with other students, and not with your child. Comparing themselves to other children who may have more or less natural ability is not an effective metric.
Dance, like all art forms, requires both technique and creativity. Our mission is to teach children proper dance technique (emphasis here) and to engage in and trust in their creative abilities. We work hard to eliminate tension, selfishness and disrespect from our classroom so that personal creativity with confidence can blossom.
Competitive behavior, when removed from the classroom, is replaced by supportive and encouraging behavior. And this, dear reader, is why your child always feels welcome and accepted in our dance classes, that they belong in the class, no matter their proficiency, gender or body type. It is a wonderful, healthy, accepting environment to experience and learn in.
We offer A Safe Dancing Class For Kids
Our dance studios, located in Greenwood, Magnolia, and Shoreline, are ideally suited spaces for children to run, jump and land safely on 'sprung floors', protecting them from the injuries that occur on concrete, mat- covered or even common wood floors. Our dance floors are also steam cleaned daily and are free of chemical contaminants.
The American Dance Institute Difference
- Teach to the 'whole child' to dance, think, create and to work well with others.
- Teaching young children to 'compete with themselves' ultimately makes them ideal future competitors, happier, people, and good citizens.
- Teach every child to first discover 'their personal best' as a benchmark and not to compare themselves to others who may have more or less natural ability.
- Help children to trust their creative abilities.
- Eliminate tension, selfishness and disrespect from the studio classroom so that personal creativity can blossom.
- Teach every child to first discover 'their personal best' as a benchmark and not to compare themselves to others who may have more or less natural ability.
ADI's founder and current director, Elizabeth Chayer, continues to pioneer improved dance instruction practices and has been incorporating them into her school's curriculum for over twenty nine years.
Children's Dance Classes
Find additional information on each class, including class schedules, dress codes, and studio locations by clicking the link associated with the classes below.
Toddler Dance Classes
Ages 2.5 to 3.5
Toddler Dance Classes
America Dance Institute offers FREE Mommy or Daddy & Me Parent-Toddler dance classes in our Greenwood studios.
Young Kids Classes Ages 3-7
Children's Creative Dance
Pre-Ballet Dance Classes
Hip Hop Dancing Class For Kids
ADI Instructor, Moira Bugler, leads a class of children in a Pre-Hip Hop dance class. Moira studied with Emmy award winning Choreographers Tabbitha & Napoleon and Luther Brown of the hit TV show: So You Think You Can Dance.
"American Dance Institute is about movement, physicality, and progress, not tutus, costumes, and makeup."
Flamenco Classes For Kids American Dance Institute Shoreline 1240 NE 175th St C, Shoreline, WA 98155, 206-402-6561
Flamenco Classes For Ages 5-7
The wee feet of our Irish dancing students.
Children's Irish Dancing Classes
Pre-Ballet / Tap Combo Dance Classes
Dance Classes and Neural Connectivity
Stanford Professor Richard Powers writes in his paper; Use It or Lose It: Dancing Makes You Smarter, "Dancing integrates several brain functions at once-kinesthetic, rational, musical, and emotional-further increasing one's neural connectivity." Read more.
Older Kids Classes Ages 8-12
American Dance Institute's Children's Ballet Students
Children's Flamenco Dance Classes
Tap Dancing Classes
A Children's Tap Dancing Class performance at a Greenwood-Phinney ArtWalk performance. Community performances such as ArtWalk provide a great opportunity to showcase what they've learned. It also builds community.
All ADI dance classes introduce verbal and movement vocabularies, new conceptual frameworks, perspectives and problem-solving skills, and we are the A in S.T.E.A.M. concepts. Your child will better relate to the world around them and their peers and their ability to learn everything will increase as well.
Teen Dance Classes
Teen Ballet
Sophia, a longtime student, began studying at ADI at age ten. She's off to college now and a wonderful life.
Read about Dr. Peter Lovatt and John J. Ratty's work on the relationship between learning and movement.
Stanford Professor Richard Powers: Dance, Brain Function and Neural Connectivity
Sir Ken Robinson's Famous TED Talk on how we are failing to appreciate the importance of a child's curiosity and creativity.
Ontario Arts Council Video: Why I Dance
Read about scientific evidence that suggests that big dance movements create new brain synapse connections.
Elizabeth wrote a quick read guide, explaining the must-ask questions to ask dance schools, before you give them your money. She wrote this guide after gleaning the repeat questions from over a thousand school interviews. Arm yourself with knowledge to make an informed choice. It is free and no email address is required.