Dance for little girls?

[VanillaBeans]

Hi, hoping to keep this brief; I’m wanting my 3 year old DD to start a club and want something active - I was torn between gymnastics and dance and went for gymnastics because at the back of my mind, despite her being so young I was worried about body image issues - mainly if she gets really into it and is still doing it in the future.

I’ve had an email back from the only gymnastics club for underneath 5’s that would fit in our schedule and it turns out it’s not going to be feasible, so we are left with dance.

Can someone please put my mind at rest? Does or did your young children do any dance and was it positive or are there any rational concerns about body image etc? I have seen dance moms and no offence but for me personally the idea of covering girls in spray tan and makeup at that age seems wrong - I want the focus of any physical activity she does to be strength and health and happiness, and not appearance.

So is it just a fun and good physical activity or should I be avoiding altogether? Is there a particular type of dance class that would be better than others? Sorry to sound overly sensitive; I had body image issues as a young teen and developed and eating disorder so I am very weary of anything body image related for young girls, but I really want to get her into an activity as I think she will love it.

My daughter is 4 and she’s been doing ballet for a year now and she absolutely loves it. It’s the best part of her week.

Glad to hear she enjoys it :) I’m sure it’s fine for very young girls I’m just really worried about when she reaches a certain age and I’d hardly want to stop her doing an activity she loves. Perhaps it comes down to parenting as well though so as long as I’m instilling healthy habits she should be alright? All a bit premature to be worrying about I know!

Martial arts for small children could be good.. excellent for fitness and confidence and I can't imagine it causing body dysmorphia. Some do kiddie classes

My fourteen year old has done ballet, tap, modern and jazz at her ballet school. It is a discipline as well as a hobby and she is extremely responsible, sensible and has no body hang ups at all. She probably feels the usual teenage awkwardness but I feel her ballet training has made her more confident in herself.
My nearly three year old is starting at the same school this week and I know she will love it. I danced at the same school so wouldn’t repeat the pattern if it caused issues like you are worried about.
Take her and if she isn’t keen she doesn’t have to go back. But it’s being part of a family at our dance school. The girls and boys grow up together and make friends for life.

And you don't think there are potential body image issues with gymnastics?!

I did ballet from age 3, modern from 7, overweight growing up, but enjoyed it nonetheless, never felt I was put down by the others. Did dance at uni, still despite being overweight, continued to enjoy it.

But any kind of competitive dance/gym is going to come with a risk of body image ideals and girls trying to meet them. Maybe I got lucky with the teacher/classes I had.

A good friend of mine has four girls 5-10 they all do martial arts and love it. They looked at dance classes but preferred a more mixed sex environment and were put off further by a relative's nine year old twerking because she'd learnt it at dance class

My daughter is 10. She started dance at 3 and still does it. She is confident and there is no pressure from her dance school to conform to a certain size or shape. Everyone gets a chance in the show and to take exams if they want. A good dance school Is important. I chose a relaxed one with the older pupils being a range of shapes and sizes so the body image doesn’t start later on.

I'm a dance teacher so definitely biased but I honestly think it's an absolutely amazing thing to get into. There are so many life skills learned through dance and it can set you up for so many different careers if you stick at it. Personally I've never known body issues to be a problem for children, only those choosing to work professionally.

Both my daughters dance. It’s great and loads of their friends do it too. Their dance school is very body positive.

Thanks all this is very reassuring :)

IWantChocolates you’re absolutely right - I guess I’m going stereotypes as I’m imagining the underweight ballerina vs the fighting for gymnast but this is very unfair of me really.

And I also think with a lot of these extremes I’ve seen with those dance shows everyone knows it’s the parents who are super pushy and so anything very competitive can be avoided and she can just have fun with it. It does look very cute!

My daughter has danced since three and it was more movement to music and having lots of fun at the beginning. Make sure your dance teacher is a registered dance teacher though so many aren’t and there is the potential for damage if they are encouraged to do movements that there aren’t ready for. (The dance schools are generally fine as with the dance exams they have to be registered anyway, it’s this multitude of franchises that anyone can do with no training that are more concerning.)