Age-Appropriate Dance.

What is appropriate music and choreography for very young dancers? It's a touchy subject that encompasses many points of view. Project Motivate directors Rhee Gold and Gloria Jean Cuming offer dance educators some guidelines.

THE CHOICE OF MUSIC

A six-year-old dancer should not be dancing to a lyrical love song. The lyrics of such a song require a strong emotional understanding for which a young dancer is not yet ready. Very often well-meaning parents and relatives think that a child who performs to music with adult lyrics using adult movements is cute and funny. Without being able to relate to the lyrics, however, that young dancer cannot present a sincere and genuine performance.

Choreography with innocence in mind can be created that will still show the young dancer to his or her best potential. Don't take chances. If you feel that the music might cause controversy, it probably will. Take the time to find age-appropriate music that does not insult the youngster intellectually or emotionally.

What society accepts in song lyrics is probably not suitable for pre-teenagers. In findings released last April by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an examination of one thousand songs revealed that 27 percent contained references to either alcohol or illicit drugs. Listen carefully to the sometimes subtle suggestions in lyrics.

THE INAPPROPRIATE ROUTINE

Many young dancers have not been trained in the fundamentals of dance and believe that a routine consists only of tricks. Frequently, they don't understand what constitutes appropriate technique. Many are taught jazz routines that are not jazz routines at all, but displays of athleticism. Without the proper training, a step as simple but effective as a jazz walk or port de bras can look awkward and unfamiliar. A routine full of jumps, turns, and extensions performed before the young dancer has been prepared to execute them properly can not only cause physical harm, it lacks the quality and entertainment value of a performance. While young bodies seem to be able to perform whatever is demanded of them, no matter how difficult, incorrect technique will eventually cause a swayed back, a poorly aligned body, or other damage. A lack of musicality is also an indication that the focus of the study for these young dancers has been harmful and wrong.

THE UNPREPARED CONTENDER

While it is possible for exceptional children to skip a grade in academics, the proper physical and emotional development of a young dancer does not allow skipping a prescribed sequence of training. Dance is an accumulative study. There are no short cuts. Teachers who create choreography that includes steps for which the young body is unprepared, who resort to using trick after trick, who permit badly executed multiple turns, are failing basic groundwork. Young dancers who can execute grands jete, pirouettes, switch leaps, and needles, but who have never learned the lindy or a jazz square, have been deprived of a basic dance education.

THE MISGUIDED TEACHER

Teachers who are misled into thinking that this sort of presentation will gain them competition awards are bound to be disappointed when the scores are counted. They may not realize that a group which performs athletically might not be performing on a par with a presentation of choreography that is less difficult but is executed with technical correctness and on a level suitable to the age and capacity of its young dancers.

Along with appropriate routines, costuming and makeup are important factors in the presentation. Groups under the age of twelve years are frequently presented in risque costumes and garish makeup that is not suitable even for older performers. A tasteful costume always receives the score it deserves, as does a neat, clean, and well-groomed appearance.

In the interest of today's young dancer and for the sake of future generations, the dance educator must assume responsibility in making sure that dance is preserved in its entirety and maintained with integrity and professionalism.