From our experiences conducting these one hour holiday dance workshops, we have often received many inquiries. Most of them ask about the price, class size, duration and other information like how to get to the studio and what attire to wear. Some that are more interested will ask about what courses do we offer on a long term basis. And then, without fail, there will be the few odd parents who question what is the learning outcome, and they don’t seem to take ‘fun’ and ‘exposure to dance’ as valid answers. No offense, but what do you suggest these 4 to 7 year old kids with no dance background should take away from a 1 hour holiday dance workshop?
There are a few types of dance workshops/camps. Some are designed for dancers, such as the Elite Talent Academy organised by CSTD; Some are designed for non- dancers, such as our Little Pony holiday dance workshop. Even for the ETA, it is hard to argue that they are not designed primarily for the dancers to have fun and be exposed to other dance genres. Okay, they may offer a little more in terms of dance genres and there’s also performing opportunities at the end of it. But then again, those workshops are a week’s long and at least 2 hours a day, so it’s natural that they offer a bit more. Even considering these factors, it is still designed mostly for fun.
Although I didn’t, I could probably argue that there are some learning outcomes in these short workshops, such as ‘learning how to memorize a dance routine in a really short time’, ‘practice how to behave well and not cling onto mummy’, ‘following instructions from the teacher’ and ‘making friends with the person standing next to you’. Perhaps some parents should take a chill pill once in a while and just allow their children to attend a holiday workshop for fun’s sake.
Ren Jie