Dance is a surprisingly rigorous activity, more of a sport than an art from a purely physical standpoint. This means a proper warmup is essential if you want your kids to avoid injury during a session of dance lessons or practice. The specific exercises will vary according to the kind of dance your child does -- tap uses different muscles than ballet. However, the principles of good warmups remain constant throughout the different styles.
Purpose
The purpose of warming up for dance, or any other exercise program, is to prepare the muscles and connective tissue for exercise. If you move directly from normal activity to vigorous exercise, those tissues are not as elastic and flexible as dance will require. By warming up before a session, you ease the connective tissue into a state that lets you move with less chance of a pull, strain or tear.
Gentleness
Warm-up exercises should be gentle and flowing. Aggressive exercises while warming up can cause injury in the same way -- and for the same reasons -- as exercising without warming up at all. Any stretches you do during your warmup should be similarly gentle. They should not be stretches intended to increase range of motion. It's especially important to make this point central to a kids' dance session, as they aren't likely to remember to keep things gentle on their own.
Cardiovascular Elements
You don't have to get a cardiovascular burn to be ready for dance. However, a light cardiovascular session increases blood flow throughout your body while giving your muscles and connective tissue a gentle workout. This makes a simple cardio session an effective choice for kids warm-ups for dance class, especially if you can make it a game or similarly enjoyable activity.
Examples
Tap dance works out the muscles of the legs and core, meaning some light leg squats and crunches might be an effective warmup. In contrast, ballet and capoeira place rigorous demands on the entire body. Full-body calisthenics, or even a session of yoga, might be more appropriate.
Kids and Dance
The main differences between warmups for kids and warmups for adults will be attention span and tolerance for complexity. Adults can be trusted to monitor their own bodies while following a complex set of warmup exercises. When leading kids through the same exercises, you will need to provide a consistent stream of basic directions to keep the dancers focused and in the right form.
References
- "Capoeira Conditioning"; Gerard Taylor; 2004
- "The Art of Expressing the Human Body"; Bruce Lee; 1998
- "Cooper Institute Instructor Curriculum Textbook"; Cooper Institute; 2003
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