Too much dance

[DancingInSunlight]

Hi, my daughter currently does 8h dance a week, and I think it’s too much, but my DD insists she’s ok. I’m just thinking how this affects her schoolwork.
So what do i do?

monday - 1h Modern dance
Tuesday - 1h ballet
wednesday - 1h Acrobatic dance + 1h hiphop
thursday - 1h Lyrical

Friday - 1h contemporary
Saturday - elite dance + private lesson

shes only 12!!
how much dance do your DC do and whats the result

Does she like dancing?

Yeah! She has a hope of winning all england dance but i’m not too sure

Is it effecting other stuff?

If she's doing well in school, she truly loves dance, and you can afford it, then carry on. It's a skill she will not regret progressing in. Some kids spend the exact same time each night watching TV or gaming.

Mine did it as a hobby and seemed to spend more time at dancing than at home.

Honestly 8 hours a week for a serious dancer at her age is very little.

I did that amount of dance when I was that age, and from then to about age 18. I still passed all my GCSEs and A levels and went to uni. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to dance after I went to uni, and I miss it so much now, even though it's been decades. If it's not affecting her school work (and you can afford it) then let her do it, if she loves it. Chances are she won't be able to carry on as an adult, so let her enjoy it now.

Mine did a lot more than that at age 12, double at least. But she only did one type of dance. She kept on top of all her schoolwork.

I agree with this.
To be honest, that seems too many different styles of dance, and nowhere near enough depth -especially ballet.

Depends why she's doing it, surely? Whether it's for fun and to do shows and things, or whether she's considering a serious career, and if so, what sort of career.

That’s fair enough. But for a child hoping to win All England, it seems an odd choice.

Good luck with the All England comp!

My daughter is a similar age and does similar number of hours. Though what I think is problematic from your list is that it's an hour every single day. My DD has four + hours on one of the weekend days alone so we're not travelling to one of her dance schools or associate classes every single day.

It's very competitive, so I don't think it's too much. You're not even factoring in summer schools and general festivals either I suppose !

My daughter does ballet almost exclusively though, not so many dance styles.

My child did about that at age 12, but it ramped up a lot more by her teens. She only did ballet, though.

I think it seems like your DD is doing a lot because she is doing a lot of fairly short lessons on a lot of days of the week. Unless the studio is very close to home, by the time you've added travel, it will be taking up a lot of time not terribly productively. I appreciate you might not have a lot of choice, but if it's possible I would try to consolidate classes into less days, which might mean dropping some genres and doing more of others.
My now adult DD used to spend pretty much all day at the studio at weekends, plus classes a few nights a week, but it gave her several nights where she could fully fully focus on school work. Going out for an hour or so every night is likely to be more disruptive than longer sessions less often. My DD also used to get up very early and do a couple of hours school work before she got the bus, once she got to the exam years and she did fine in her GCSEs and A levels. She did a degree in dance and now runs her own dance school.
As others have said, if your DD is serious about her dancing, I'd suggest she reduces the number of types of dance she is doing but ups the hours of the core subjects, particularly ballet. She's spreading herself very thin at present.

Would it be possible to increase at the weekend and decrease the number of days during the week?

I remember doing 4 or 5 hours on a Saturday (dance AND drama) and two ballet classes in the week. One of those was followed by contemporary but still, only 3 days out of 7. It felt a lot.

My DD is 11 but does around 7 1/2 hours but it’s only across 3 days (two week days plus Saturday am) and she has just stuck to ballet, tap and modern. It’s just a hobby, but she loves it. She could add contemporary but doesn’t want to do a fourth night. She’s doing both inter foundation and grades ballet hence extra classes.

Ds2 usually does 4 hours a week but that's in 1x 3 hour plus a 1 x1hour block which seems more manageable (although the 3 hour block does tire him out). The 3 hour block is 45min of tap, ballet, modern and street back to back. Any schools near you offer anything like that?

I think if your child is serious about any sort of sport by 12 they are doing many hours. DS is 12 and does 13 hours of swimming a week, the girls in his squad do nearer to 17 hours as they develop physically at a younger age so do more training from an earlier age than the boys.

If it isn't affecting her negatively then its not too much. If she is unhappy or her school work suffering then it may be considered too much.

My other child was doing 11 hours of gymnastics per week at one time. That was over four days a week. She was 7+. Older children did more. It's a big commitment.

Though they used to go home in pyjamas most of the class on weeknights (8.30 finish)

My DD is 15 and does around 19 hours a week (2 eve and whole day Sat)
in an elite team so does one competition a month (approx)

Ours did more than that at 12. Usually two hours a day, three on Wednesday and Saturdays every fortnight. Then every while it would increase for shows, workshops and exams.
She didn’t have a problem with school work.

I think the key thing to ask is: "Is it working out for your daughter, and your family?"

For instance, does she enjoy it? Does she have enough energy to cope, or is she exhausted all the time? Is she keeping up with schoolwork? Can you afford it? Is it causing your family stress or causing other kids to miss out?

If everyone's reasonably happy with the situation, then there's no need to change. If she's dancing competitively and doing well, then I can definitely see that amount of dance being necessary (plus practice time at home). But if it's costing the family too much (finances, mental health, schooling etc) then it's fair to make an adjustment.

Not that much - any elite kids in any sport do at least that. Gymnasts do double

If she's the one pushing to do it I think it's fine.
My daughter is 8 and does 5 hours of dance a week plus theatre school as well. But it's all driven by her.