Dance is an excellent activity that helps your child develop their physical skills, increase their self-confidence, and make friends with their peers. But a problem that many parents face when starting out their child in dance is not knowing how to choose a dance class.
To help you along your journey, this explainer will detail the differences between several popular dance classes for children. It will explain which dance styles are suitable for which child age categories, and help you determine the best dance class for your child.
Creative Movement 
is a starter class geared towards very young children that often involves parent participation. This class serves as an introduction to dance by using basic activity to help very young children become familiar with music
. The goal isn’t to teach children dance techniques, but to develop skills 
such as body awareness and coordination.
Creative Movement classes, like our Tots Creative Dance & Music and Kinder Dance Combo, are exclusively offered to young children under 4 years of age. CDM even offers a specialized Dance With Me! Parent and Tot program that caters to children as young as 20 months.
If you’re interested in introducing a young child to dance, these dance lessons are your best options.
Ballet 
is one of the most important dance classes for young children, but it may surprise you why it’s so popular. Although you may think it’s because of its beautiful costumes and romantic associations, the reason is actually because no other dance style is as teachable as ballet.
For this reason, ballet serves as a good starting foundation
for young dancers. It is a great dance class for learning the fundamentals of dance. And, after learning basic ballet skills, aspiring dancers can branch out and learn other dance styles easily.
When it comes to ballet, it’s ideal to start young. Ballet is well suited for younger children because they are better able to meet its tough physical demands.
Ballet is one of CDM’s strongest disciplines. CDM Dance & Music is a Royal Academy of Dance-certified ballet studio that offers different styles of ballet. Our school offers Pre-Primary Ballet classes for 5-year-old children in addition to Primary Ballet classes for children aged 6 years. Regular ballet classes are also available for children up to 18.
Jazz 
is an excellent dance style that really appeals to children. It incorporates high energy with big movements that makes it appealing to dancers that enjoy putting on a show. And, owing to its traditions in musical theatre, jazz is an 
expressive dance style through which skilled dancers can improvise.
If jazz does have a fault, it would be that this style’s dance fundamentals are limited in scope. For a good foundation, dance students are encouraged to begin their learning with ballet.
The CDM dance studio begins offering Primary Jazz dance classes to children at the age of 5, and offers classes for older ages that range up to adult.
Hip hop is an exciting and vibrant dance style that really appeals to today’s youths. Hip hop has a loose feeling to it that allows for individual expression and improvisation. It features dynamic choreography often performed by teams dancing together, and makes for a great workout.
Most TikTok dances that achieve a huge following originally come from hip hop styles. If your kids are a fan of these viral dances, this style is for you. It’s fun and liberating, and can get your child active and fit.
CDM dance school begins its hip hop classes at ages 4–5 with Kinder Hip Hop.
Tap dancing is rhythmic, energetic
, and great for children that like to have fun. Tap is ideal for children that want to express themselves with style
.
Tap helps children develop motor skills, rhythm, and coordination. It’s an invigorating dance style that allows your young one to break out of their shell in a bold and artistic way.
Children aged 6–7 years old can begin taking tap dance classes at CDM dance school.
Acro dance is a fusion of acrobatics
and classical dance moves that makes for a dynamic dance performance. It is ideal for athletic children and, like ballet, requires students to start young in order to meet its tough demands.
Flexibility, balance, and coordination are key to the development of an acro student dancer. Like a gymnast, an acro dancer needs strength and agility to perform its gymnastic-oriented techniques.
CDM Dance & Music is a Certified Acrobatic Arts Studio and follows strict guidelines for developing strong acrobatic technique. We begin offering Acro dance classes to children aged 5–6.
Contemporary & Lyrical are modern dance styles that adopt a non-traditional approach.
Contemporary dance uses the body as an instrument to perform free flowing
dance moves. This type of dance follows a strong narrative to tell a story filled with emotion. In much the same way, lyrical dance
uses quick, smooth transitions as a storytelling technique to engage its audience.
Parents can begin enrolling their children at CDM’s Contemporary and Lyrical dance classes beginning at 8 years of age.
As you can see, there are a variety of dance classes to choose from. Keep in mind that it’s important that your child enjoys the dance style, and has fun when doing it!
Interested to see what CDM Dance & Music has to offer? Come take a look at our fall lineup of recreational dance classes here!
