Our daughter is just about to hit the 22-month mark and recently completed the last Tiny Tutus class at the Motherhood Center. She loved it.
I wasn’t quite sure what I’d hoped she’d learn in a class that teaches little ones aged 18 months to 2.5 years ballet, but it far exceeded my expectations.
The “mommy and me” class style allowed her to ease into a new and lively environment and gave us something fun and active to do together. Not to mention the opportunity to socialize with other little ones.
Ms. Susana is a fantastic teacher and clearly passionate about ballet. Even the littlest ballerinas enjoy and learn classic dance. Tiny Tutus is not a strict class but has a fabulous (and I would imagine difficult to achieve) balance of fun, creativity, and learning.
The class moves quickly, keeping short attention spans engaged.
Having fun and active space to connect with other littles and moms is great, but as I learned, the benefits of toddler ballet don’t stop there.
According to the Child Development Institute, other benefits of toddler ballet include:
- They learn to follow instructions
- They gain a sense of discipline through learning new positions
- They learn co-ordination, balance and how to control their bodies in motion
- They are active and getting daily exercise
- They become comfortable performing before groups
Writing at Babble, Ana Flores discusses how starting ballet at an early age helped her daughter in several unexpected ways:
If you’re considering ballet lessons for your girl, here are a few more reasons to be convinced of the positive and nurturing benefits your child can receive — all of which I’ve seen on my own daughter.
1. Ballet Nurtures Confidence
The extreme shyness stage hit my girl when she was turning three-years-old and right around the time she started ballet. At first she had a hard time letting go of my hand and joining the teacher and the rest of the girls, but slowly she started gaining the confidence and trust to start letting go and just enjoy. During the dress rehearsal for the first recital, I was panicking because I swore she would never get on stage or, if she did, she’d just stand there frozen. I was so wrong. As soon as she got on stage it’s as if she had found her place in life. It was hard to get her off and she’s always waiting for the next one.
2. Ballet Enhances Focus
My daughter is extremely energetic and very free-spirited. Yet, in ballet class she’s attentive and very focused. Even though in preschool ballet children are more in the marching, prancing and twirling fun stage, they have to learn to pay attention and focus on the group and their body’s movement. If they have to prepare for a recital and get on stage, that focus will have a purpose and the lesson will be reinforced.
3. Ballet Does a Body Good
Ballet at any age is an ideal activity for kids to learn strength, flexibility, and movement. At a young age, any exercise or discipline should be fun and immersive. Ballet definitely keeps going well beyond the studio walls and spills over to our house, the park, friends’ homes, parking lots…basically anywhere where there’s enough room to move.
4. Ballet Enriches Cultural Knowledge
I never thought that at age 5 my daughter would be grabbing my iPad from my hands so she could put on her favorite Tchaikovsky song. For the second year in a row, she was practicing her part in The Nutcracker, this time as a Sugar Plum Fairy. Not only did she perform it on stage, but she also joined us to watch the L.A. Ballet performance and sat through the whole suite on the edge of her seat. Ballet has definitely been a gateway for nurturing her love of music and our love of culture.
5. Ballet Promotes Bonding
Our ballet Sundays are the only part of our family life that could be considered ritualistic. We never miss a class, one of us is always there with her, and she knows we’re watching her. Our family bond is definitely nurtured through her classes and the two times a year she performs.
She also is nurtured by the bonds she’s established with her teacher and her assistants, as well as with the other girls in her class.
At home between classes, our daughter loved to practice her new moves and was incredibly proud of herself when we got back to class and she saw she was able to complete them (even if it was just walking with pointed toes) with her ballet friends.
The next session of Tiny Tutus is starting soon. Don’t miss this opportunity to introduce your little one to a classic art form in a way that’s fun and engaging. Motherhood Center also offers Pre-Ballet classes for those 2.5 to 3.5-year-olds.
We’ll be at the next class and hope to see you there!
For class and registration information, click here.
