This past spring, Covid-19 forced dance studios and parents to make some big decisions. Was dance safe for kids? Heck, were dance classes safe for anyone? No one really knew, and a lot of studios and families took a better-safe-than-sorry approach. That was smart, in my opinion, because there were so many unanswered questions. Kids dance classes went from being in-studio with precautions to at home on Zoom. Some dance studios put on their end of season recitals online. Others held socially-distant dance recitals outdoors. The New York Times even wrote about the ups and downs of holding dance recitals during a pandemic.
Now we know a lot more about how coronavirus is transmitted and how vulnerable kids are and aren't. Schools around the U.S. -- and here in Salem, Beverly, Peabody, etc. -- are opening. However, school is going to look different than it did in September of last year. A lot of kids will be starting the year remotely or taking remote classes all year long. Some will be in school in hybrid programs that won't include phys ed or a lot of recess time. And even when schools are totally open, the average day will look very different. Kids will be moving less and socializing less and spending more time on screens.
Which brings me to the importance of dance classes for kids during the Covid pandemic.
Are dance classes for kids safe? Most dance studios have done everything they can to ensure that students of all ages are safe. There are no longer parents mingling in waiting rooms. Barres and floors and bathrooms are sanitized throughout the day. Dancers stay six feet apart. A lot of dance studios do temperature checks before classes. Teachers and desk staff are masked. At some studios, dancers wear masks, too -- especially students in adult dance classes. Windows are open. There may be an air purifier humming away in the corner of each studio room.
Most studio owners and dance instructors are doing all of that and more not because it's mandated by the state, but because they believe that dance is more important than ever right now. I believe it, too. Right now, dance classes may be the only outlet kids have for their copious energy and the only exercise they get. The only time they see friends outside of school may be in the dance classes they take one or two days a week. The dance studio may be the only place they can make new friends if they're in school remotely or even if they're in school. Dance also promotes resilience, and dance classes give kids a chance to explore their feelings about this weird world we're living in through art.
Dance classes shouldn't be the first thing to be cut out of a kid's life because they may just be the only outlet that kid has.
Let me make it clear, though, that if you're hesitating about signing your kids up for dance classes because of Covid, that's okay. I thought long and hard before sending my own child back into our studio for live classes. It wasn't an easy decision, even though we had the blessing of our pediatrician. I'm not trying to convince anyone to make choices they aren't comfortable with. This is hard, whether you're a parent trying to decide to send your child back into a dance studio (been there) or an adult trying to decide whether to enroll in an adult dance class that's not on Zoom (been there, too).
The only reason I decided to post this is that I was mulling over how different the world is right now for children and thinking about how simply taking a dance class can make everything feel a little more like it did before.
Happy dancing!
Want to dance? Dance instructor Christa Terry teaches kid, teen, and adult tap classes and jazz classes at Dance Enthusiasm in Salem, MA. Whether you've never taken a dance class or you want to get back into it, whether you're 8 or 80, you can do it!
More info about my fall dance classes here: http://www.danceenthusiasm.org/classes
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