Advanced Acro Dance Classes Give Athletic Edge & More

Acro is a form that’s gained a great deal of popularity over the past 20 years, and it has a lot to offer students. Because it’s a relatively new genre, some parents who were accustomed to dance schools teaching “pure dance” when they were students themselves, wonder why they should consider acro classes for their kids. Acro is a smart addition to your child’s dance class schedule for many reasons, especially for younger (under age 10) kids. Starting kids in basic acro at age 7 or so helps them build discipline and fitness they’ll use later in advanced acro dance classes, and in their classical dance training.

• Technique – Many younger students are able to develop tumbling and acro skills sooner than they’re able to develop core dance techniques. Providing them with access to acro classes in addition to their classical dance training offers an opportunity to develop needed skills in a way that younger kids can more readily appreciate. To many 8-year-olds, it’s more exciting to be able to do a walkover than to do a perfect pirouette. They’ll get that pirouette down in time, but providing your child an opportunity to feel a greater sense of accomplishment and have fun can be a key element in that child developing the discipline to appreciate and develop good technique in classical dance. For some kids, acro will turn out to be the form they love best; for other kids, it will serve as a stepping-stone to becoming a better-rounded dancer.

• Athleticism – Acro builds athleticism, flexibility, and agility in different ways than classical dance training does. Classical dance, especially ballet, requires a great deal of all of these skills, but the training can be too “big picture” for many young students, and they may lose interest in the training before they succeed in developing those skills. Acro offers students a way to dramatically increase their physical skills while doing something their young minds can understand as fun in the here-and-now. For students who thrive on the rigors of classical dance training, acro offers a different kind of challenge: Breaking out of the classical mold to understand that dance is an inherently flexible art form, and skills can be applied in many different ways.

• Confidence – Some kids develop their fine-motor control later than others, and especially for those students, classical-only dance training can be discouraging. Many children under age 10 are better able to demonstrate mastery of tumbling and acrobatic skills than more nuanced forms of dance technique, such as ballet. If your kids are competing in dance, acro can offer a chance for them to display wining skill, even if they have not yet achieved full mastery of their classical techniques. Giving your kids a taste of acclaim and success at these early stages will encourage them to further develop all of their dance skills, and will help them decide for themselves to stick it out when training gets tough.

Advanced Acro Dance Classes Expand Your Child’s Opportunities

Whether your child is involved in dance for fun and recreation or to prepare for a career as a professional dancer, advanced acro classes will help develop the physical skills, emotional maturity, and metal discipline needed to stick with the training, improve in technique, and succeed in making dance a life-long part of their world.