4 Year old boy who loves to dance

[rebajayne]

Hiya

My little boy loves to dance, do you think i should maybe take him to a dance school. Or is he a bit young.

Or is there any other activities i could take him for.

Little girls always seem to go off and od ballet or acting school. Id love to have something to do with him on a Saturday morning.

[morg_monster]

If he enjoys it then why not, they never take these things too seriously at that age - so everyone can enjoy them no matter what their ability. (if they do take it too seriously - find another class). I was stomping around a ballet class at 4 with no natural grace whatsoever, but I loved it!

He might enjoy ballet, or another style of dance, or gymnastics, or what about an acting school such as Stagecoach (minimum age is 4).

Have a look at http://www.all4kidsuk.com , they have a very good search engine for activities by type. If you can't find anything near you why not talk to other mums or look in the yellow pages.

[Hermia]

Your local library may have a list of classes for children. The library I work in certainly does. The line dancing classes for kids seem to be very popular. Your son might enjoy that as it's fun and a lot of men do it so it doesn't have the girly image of ballet.

[Buttonstoo]

I would encourage it. My son wanted to go dancing just after he turned 3, so we took him to classes. He kept it up for only about 8 months. He loved it whilst he was going just then after a while said he didn't want to go and that was fine by me at least he has explored it.

At 7 years of age he said he wanted to go to drama classes (obviously has a longing for the stage!) and is still going every week 3 years on.

[simsfreq]

I did ballet when I was younger and I remember there being at least one boy in my class - if you live in Warwickshire I'd really recommend Rosalind Capliss, an excellent ballet teacher who is still in service after many years of tutoring!

Other than ballet an acting group is definitely a good idea. I go to a youth acting group (I'm 17) which used to run on Saturday mornings, and although it only takes children from the age of 6 there is a group for younger children which is based a lot around percussion, music and dancing with some nursery rhymes thrown in for familiarity. A lot of the younger children in my acting group have little brothers and sisters there who absolutely love it. I'm not sure how you could find something like this but maybe your son's school or nursery could give you some information.
Good luck!

[rebajayne]

Hi

Thanks for your answer's, ill try the libary see what they have.

I live in Leeds, so dont know if anyone else is from theYorkshire area and knows of anywhere ic an try.

I have also tried the stage coach web site. It looks very good, Defintley going to try that in the new year.

He sings everywhere we go, might send him on x Factor!!!!!

[Scarlett]

Hello,

I teach at Stagecoach. we do an Early Stages which your boy could go to- dance, drama and singing. At 6 they move into Stage 1, then Stage 2 at 9 and Stage 3 at 12. I have taught children who joined Early Stages and are now in Stage 3! They are talented performers and lovely children. It sounds like he has a definite leaning towards the performing arts, in which case it would be a shame not to start him off now! The god thing about Stagecoach is that it covers singing and acting as well as dance, and is a genuine training, not simply a saturday morning "drama club". In my experience you really do get your money's worth!

http://www.stagecoach.co.uk/stagecoach/html/uk_schools.php?cid=1

There are 6 schools in Leeds. You can take your son along to have a trial session and see what he thinks!

[Drusilla]

This is such a lovely question and you've had some wonderful answers. My girls go to dance and there are quite a few boys attending, so I think the stigma against it is definitely wearing off, though this is London. I can't imagine a city like Leeds is any less encouraging.
Your son sounds delightful and I hope you succeed and let us all know next year how you, and he, get on.

[lupen]

take him! i was like that and i never got the chance; its always worth it trust me he will be very lucky to have an education like that.

taking him to a hobie class would also work too lol, but get him in young its a good age to start really.

[rebajayne]

Hiya

Thanks for all your answers to my question, Just to let you know ive got him in at Stage coach and it seems like it will be good for him. He was a bit nervous and easily distracted but thats 4 year old's for you!!

It's not at all girly, even the older children was a good mixture of boys and girls.

Thanks again