3 reasons to Dance at St Andrews

Dance at St Andrews has become a core part of our school community. We are exceptionally proud of the number of opportunities to Dance at STA and the benefits it brings to everyone that gets involved in the discipline. Unknown to many Dance has many benefits which you can learn more about below:

#1 Academic Benefits

• Children who regularly participate in dance sessions or lessons typically perform better academically than peers who do not. 

• Various studies suggest that pupils with a dance background are more likely to achieve higher SATs scores and excel at maths and science.

• The development of dance skills requires practice, discipline and focus. These are three skills that help young learners succeed in school. 

• Dancers are ordered thinkers. This means they exhibit strong impulse control and can juggle multiple tasks without compromising on quality.

#2 Improved social and communication skills

• Dance in school is a highly social experience. School-based dance lessons can help you improve your social and communication skills.

• It teaches you to function as a team, develops trust in others and builds confidence. Dancing - or any type of performance - requires individuals to show a degree of vulnerability, fostering a communal spirit. This is one way to alleviate anxieties about facing unexpected situations, tasks and challenges.

#3 Benefits to emotional wellbeing

• Movement competence creates confidence. As you grow in assurance and begin to trust your body's limits, emotional and social confidence increases.

• Dance is a very expressive activity. It celebrates emotion by finding creative, constructive outlets for it. 

• Dance teaches you to moderate your mood and respond to criticism in a calm and considerate manner. 

• Dance accepts everyone; understanding and accepting this allows you to understand and accept others. 

There are countless opportunities for you to dance at St Andrews. Integrated into the British curriculum you have the chance to dance, twist and turn from Primary right the way through High School.

St Andrews Dance Opportunities range from

• A vast selection of Dance ECAs (Hip Hop, Contemporary, Jazz Musical Theatre), 

• Highlights for special school events (International Day, School Assemblies, Loy Krathong, Songkran, Lunar New Year, Friday Night Games, Musical Productions), 

• Learning in lessons from The Juilliard School experts,

• Competitive Dance teams, 

• Exclusive STA Dance Extravaganzas,

• As part of our international British curriculum.

Ultimately, the Dance programme at St Andrews culminates with Dance included as a choice for your child in their IGCSE and IB options.

Recent Dance Highlight 

Recently, we had a number of dance teams compete in a FOBISIA dance competition. The competition boasted over 218 Dancers, 55 different dance teams from 9 different schools across South East Asia. We are very proud that St Andrews International School Bangkok had the highest participation of students competing in the competition. As well as this our dancers took home many prizes, see their inspirational performances here.

Dance with The Juilliard School 

Our collaboration with the world-leading performing arts conservatory The Juilliard School based in New York opens doors to immense opportunities in the world of dance. The award-winning conservatory often sends its Juilliard experts to collaborate with our performing arts teachers in organising workshops and creative classroom sessions. To learn more about the influence of Juilliard on our performing arts programme click below...

Sources: 

• https://mcsdurham.org/blog/the-importance-of-dance-in-education
• https://classroom.synonym.com/importance-dance-childhood-education-5535793.html
• https://blog.ed.ted.com/2018/04/02/why-dance-is-just-as-important-as-math-in-school/
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15290824.2005.10387280