Build your Library of Thematic Dance EdVentures™
Why Thematic Dance?
The Dance to Learn® Curriculum follows a Thematic-Conceptualized approach to Dance Education in the Foundational years.
But Why Themes?
Research shows that brain connections, known as synapses, are strengthened through repeated experiences. That's why we believe we can build meaningful brain connections through Thematic Dance!
Here are some research based reasons Thematic Dance Curriculum is BEST for Brain Development:
- Experiential learning,, or learning from experiences, improves brain connections by actively engaging multiple areas of the brain, leading to stronger synaptic pathways. When children participate in hands-on, movement-based activities, like those in a Dance to Learn® class, they repeatedly use and reinforce specific neural circuits. This process helps strengthen brain connections, enhancing memory, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. By moving and interacting with their environment, children also engage their senses, which further supports the integration of new information, making it easier to recall and apply later on. The more they experience, the more robust these connections become, supporting Whole-Child development.
- In the Dance to Learn® Curriculum, themes help preschoolers build knowledge and make meaningful connections through real-world experiences. By incorporating thematic learning into our dance classes, children engage in movement that relates directly to the world around them, allowing them to explore dance concepts in a way that enhances both their Whole-Child development.
- In a Dance to Learn® class, themes provide a unified context for organizing dance activities, allowing children to connect new dance concepts to a central idea. Instead of disjointed exercises, each movement, game, and discussion is tied to the Thematic Dance EdVenture™, creating a cohesive learning experience. This thematic approach helps children build a growing web of knowledge, as they explore dance concepts within the context of the theme. By integrating new dance skills with familiar, real-world experiences, children are better able to understand and retain the information, enriching their Whole Child development through a seamless, meaningful learning journey.
- To ensure that our themes are engaging, Dance to Learn® incorporates a multi-sensory approach to Thematic Dance Education by incorporating stimulating tools and props that spark our students' interest and enhance the learning experience. These tools include concept visuals, story books, multi-sensory props, thematic obstacle courses, engaging music and more!
Progress & Pathway
The Dance to Learn® Curriculum follows a Conceptualized-Thematic Dance Web to ensure that Progression of Skills and Dance Concepts are followed in a Thematic Pathway designed to ensure students can have multiple experiential opportunities within dance class that they may also experience outside of the dance studio.
Creating these webs of experiential opportunities inside their dance class will
- deepen our students' comprehension and retention of dance concepts by reinforcing them through meaningful contexts our students' encounter both inside and outside of the dance studio.
- develop foundational skills first and then gradually advance to more complex movements and ideas. This step-by-step approach fosters confidence and competence.
- strengthen Whole Child Development because the themes are experiential and can be found in the students' everyday lives, children are given multiple opportunities to encounter and engage with the themes.
- align with students' natural curiosity and experiences, the Dance to Learn® Curriculum keeps them engaged and excited to learn about themselves and the world they live in!
- create meaningful and relevant dance experiences that also relate to their own lives supporting both their personal and social development.
Fostering Connection Through Inclusive and Purposeful Themes
Keeping Themes Meaningful by Sparking Curiosity
From birth, children are naturally curious about the world around them and their place within it. To nurture this curiosity, we focus on worldly, experiential themes—themes that children can encounter and explore both inside and outside of the dance studio. By aligning our themes with real-life experiences and questions children may have, we ensure our Thematic Dance EdVentures™ remain meaningful and engaging. We avoid overarching themes focused on gender roles, holidays, or fantasy creatures, as they may not resonate with all students or contribute to their understanding of the world. Since dance is primarily an indoor activity, we also bring the outdoors in by incorporating thoughtful, experiential themes that reflect the world children are eager to explore. Our themes are categorized by:
- All About Me
- Seasons
- Nature
- Ecosystems
Thematic Learning and the Brain: Building Memories
Long Term Memories are formed through Order and not Only Repetition
A recent study shared by New York University (2022) determined:
This study determines experiential repetition across different contexts can enhance long-term memory formation. The study emphasizes that long-term memory isn’t just about the sheer number of repetitions, but also about how stimuli are ordered and processed by neurons. When a child encounters a theme in various settings—school, dance class, and playtime at the playground—their brain is exposed to the same concept in different ways and sequences. This aligns with the idea that repeated experiences in varied contexts play a significant role in committing information to long-term memory.
The brain's ability to sense not just repetition but the order and context of stimuli means that these experiential encounters—seeing, moving through, and playing within a thematic environment—aren't just accumulating identical information. Instead, they help the brain differentiate patterns and consolidate the memory of the experiential experience as something meaningful. In this case, the child builds a deeper, more multi-faceted understanding of the concept because it's reinforced through different modes of learning (visual, kinesthetic, cognitive, etc.), which all contribute to long-term memory.
Read the NYU Article and Findings Here
Neurons don't just respond to repetition in a general sense—they are sensitive to the way stimuli are presented in time and in relation to each other.
For example, when a child experiences a concept in various settings & experiences (such as in school, in a dance class, and at a playground), the brain is able to recognize that each experience is connected to the same concept but presented in different ways. The "pattern" could refer to how the child first learns about the concept in a structured lesson in school, then explores the concept through movement in dance class, and finally interacts with the concept while playing outside. Each of these experiences is distinct in how the information is presented, but they share a common theme.
By sensing and differentiating these patterns, the brain commits the concept to long-term memory more effectively than if the child just encountered the concept in one context. Essentially, the brain uses the order and context of these experiences to form a more robust and nuanced memory, not simply a collection of repetitive events. This ability to discriminate between patterns of experience helps to ensure that different forms of engagement with the same theme reinforce learning in a dynamic, layered way.