NDEO’s Guest Blog Series features posts written by our members about their experiences in the fields of dance and dance education. We continue this series with a post by Cassidy Svercauski, M.S. Dance Educator and Exercise Scientist.  Guest posts reflect the experiences, opinions, and viewpoints of the author and are printed here with their permission. NDEO does not endorse any business, product, or service mentioned in guest blog posts. If you are interested in learning more about the guest blogger program or submitting an article for consideration, please click here.    

Why I Read to My Young Dancers

Stories, fantasy, and imagination are key pillars to the development of creativity in preschool aged children. To foster this innovation and creativity in my young dancers, I often include story time in my preschool age dance classes. Some may ask why I do this- considering it is a dance class- but I believe that taking 5 minutes to read to your dancers every class can help create well rounded, expressive, and educated young dancers. Here are some of the ways storytelling can positively impact your students and your teaching.

Reading Connects Dance to Real Life

Often times, dance is an activity that children think is done exclusively in a studio with their teacher. However, dance is a social community that exists far beyond the ballet barre. As dance educators it is our job to ensure that our students can make and interpret dance with various meanings.

By reading to your young dancers, you are connecting literacy to dance, making your classroom a place of interdisciplinary study. This encourages your dancers to make connections between stories and dance, which begs the question: what else does dance connect to?

Reading Aids and Supplements Lessons

When you open a children’s book you find a multitude of words and thoughts that can easily be turned into movement. I use these words and thoughts to teach my dancers important dance and life concepts. For example, if I am teaching the concept of size, I read my dancers a book that features animals of different sizes. The Little Golden Book version of Cinderella is one of my favorites for this. When I am teaching directions and pathways, I will read my students Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. In this story we observe the different pathways pictured and talked about in the story. There are also wonderful books that are actually about dance that use ballet terminology and even show what a stage looks like. These books are great resources for reviewing vocabulary and for teaching young dancers about stage directions and backstage rules before recital.

Reading Acts as a Cool Down

Some preschool age dance classes are an hour long. That is a lot of dancing for a child aged 2 to 5. By stopping for a 5 minute story time in the middle of class the dancers are able to rest and refresh their bodies and minds while still continuing the lesson. In my experience, this cool down also reduces the amount of young dancers who become tired and uninterested towards the end of class.

Books Teach Emotions

Most children are visual learners. Having a picture in front of them helps them understand a story and make meaning of words they do not know. By telling stories with characters that display vivid emotions, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Inside Out, dancers can see what an emotion looks like on a person’s face or body. This can help dancers learn to emote and use their facial expressions to tell a story while dancing. A Little Spot of Emotion is one of my favorite books for teaching emotions in a more direct way to dancers who are ages 4-6.

Reading during dance classes is not accepted by every dance studio or parent, as their children are there with the purpose of dancing. A class may also not respond well to story time if they are very young or full of energy. However, there are still ways to incorporate stories into a dance class without stopping to sit and read an entire book.

Reference Stories and Share Book Illustrations

If your students have heard a particular story or watched a certain movie, they are already familiar with the characters and plot. In this case, I verbally summarize the book in 1-2 sentences and then refer to pictures in the book to guide a lesson or teach a concept. For example, the Little Golden Books version of Frozen II is a great reference for sizes: Bruni the fire spirit is small, the Water Nook is medium, and the Earth Giants are big. And remember, referencing books about dance and dance photographs and videos can be useful for reviewing steps, vocabulary and parts of the stage! Some of my favorites are Bunheads by Misty Copeland, The Night Before My Dance Recital by Amy Wummer, and Ellie’s Dancing Shoes by Scott Sollers.

Dance Stories

Dance stories are stories that dancers can dance along to. Sometimes I make up a story and other times I summarize an already existing story or fairytale. Some stories (like Stomp by Uncle Ian Aurora) are already dance class ready, filled with action words like stomp and wiggle and fast and slow. Other stories I edit to include the dance steps and skills they are learning in class. One of my favorites is my version of Disney’s Tangled designed to practice tap skills.

“Once upon a time there was a girl named Rapunzel. She had long long long blonde hair. But sadly, Rapunzel was stuck in her house, which was a tower, on the top floor. She lived up high but dreamed of going down and out into the world. While she dreamed she shuffled around her tower, marched up and down the stairs, twirled in circles, and watched the birds outside of her window flap their wings. On her 16th birthday Rapunzel asked her mother if she could see the floating lanterns in the village. Her mother shook her head no, Rapunzel shook hers yes. Her mother shook her head no, Rapunzel shook her head maybe? The answer was no, but when mother was not looking a nice man named Flynn Rider appeared below her window, promising her a trip to the village. They used Rapunzel's hair to get her down from her tower and she ran free on her tippy toes. She twirled and jumped and chassed in circles in excitement. Until she realized she was scared. Should she go back into the tower, or stay out? Rapunzel decided to be free and walked heel-toe on her journey to the village, where she found that the floating lanterns were in for the lost princess who was stolen as a baby. Rapunzel soon realized that she was the lost princess. Her mother had kept her in the tower because her magical hair kept her looking young instead of growing old. Mother stomped her feet in fury, trying to recapture Rapunzel for her own beauty, but Rapunzel cut her magical hair, changing it from blonde to brown and ran away on her tippy toes. She announced to the king and queen that she was the lost princess. The family rejoiced and danced together in celebration of a kingdom together again.”

Overall, books are a great way to introduce lessons, tie in a theme, or teach a dance history lesson. So, the next time you’re in a book store take a walk through the children’s section, you never know what you’ll find! At the end of the day, every child loves to listen to stories. So why not use stories to further their dance education!

Cassidy Svercauski is a New Jersey based dance educator, using anatomy and creativity to help cultivate knowledgeable, strong, and innovative dancers. She received her BA in Dance Education from Muhlenberg College in 2021 and continued her education at Montclair State University, receiving her MS in Exercise Science and Sports Studies. Cassidy's pedagogy bridges the gap between dance and science, emphasizing anatomical awareness, dance based cross training, and self expression. She is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University, teaching Nutrition and Fitness Concepts and is a proud teacher for Dance Innovations Inc. in Chatham, NJ. Cassidy offers workshops and masterclasses across New York and New Jersey for dancers 8+ looking to learn about their bodies, dance smarter, and strengthen the muscles, technique, and artistry required to succeed in the athletic art form of dance.

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Photo Credits: All photos by Stephanie Petersen