Beating the Summer Slump

Ah, summer. Long, sunny days filled with sleeping in, trips to the pool, lazy afternoons reading, kids playing outside, evening barbecues. Life is good.

For the first two weeks or so.

Then, if your kids are like mine, the summer slump sets in. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not the type of mom that has to keep my kids constantly entertained. I’m okay with them getting a little bored. I read all the articles and blog posts about the benefits of allowing your kids to entertain themselves. I know all the recommendations about over-scheduling and over-stimulating.

But let’s get real. I’m not about to spend the next two and a half months listening to whining and bickering (the inevitable results of boredom at my house).

Enter the dance studio!

One of the perks of owning my own studio is that my children get to spend a lot of time there. Thankfully, they all love to dance (even though I have spent their entire lives saying “You don’t have to love to dance just because Mommy does!”). And the dance studio is a great place to hang out during the summer.

Although we have a variety of camps and classes available throughout the summer, I also know how hard it is to commit to a schedule during the summer. But the benefits of continuing to dance during the summer are awesome!

• Continuing dance training keeps your student learning and challenged. It also ensures their bodies and minds won’t forget everything they just spent the last 10 months mastering (muscle memory is a very real thing!).
• During the summer we are not working towards a recital. So the focus is on mastering skills and improving technique, not on learning choreography (although choreography is included in our classes for some added fun). This is a great time for students to work on specific goals.
• Summer is the perfect time to try something new! If your student has always wanted to try a different genre, now is a great time. There’s no commitment to a full dance season, and no recital commitment. This is a great way to try multiple dance forms before you make your class decisions for the fall.
• It’s a great opportunity to make some new friends and get out of the house! And the exercise is a great bonus.

There are also plenty of things you can do at home to keep your dancer dancing (and entertained!).

• Stretching Flexibility is essential to dance, and is easily achieved when you’re young (and easily lost over the summer!). Encourage your dancer to do some stretches at home. Easy stretches include:
  • Butterfly – put the soles of the feet together with the knees open. Pump knees up and down (fly your wings!) and lean forward bringing the nose towards the feet (try not to smell your stinky toes!)
  • Pike – put both feet together in front of the body with the knees straight. Sit up tall then reach forward trying to touch the toes without bending the knees. Can be done with feet pointed and/or flexed. Advanced: reach forward and out trying to pull nose to knees with a flat back (fold in half!)
  • Straddle Sit – open legs to either side as wide as body will allow (should feel a slight pull in the inner thigh). Make sure knees are straight and facing the ceiling (some students knees like to fall forward. They may need to pull their legs closer together to prevent this). Reach for one foot, then the other, then reach to the middle until they feel a stretch. Can be done with feet pointed and/or flexed. Advanced: work for straight line in the straddle from foot to hip to foot. When stretching to the middle, work from elbows to the floor to forehead to the floor to belly button to the floor.

• Conditioning In many ways, dancers are athletes. They require both strength and stamina. Encourage your dancer to build both during the summer months. Ideas include:
  • Run a few laps around the house, or take a jog through the neighborhood. Go on a bike ride, play tag with some friends, or get a game of volleyball/whiffle ball/etc. going.
  • Go to the pool! Swimming is a highly recommended exercise for dancers. It is easy on the joints and doesn’t compromise that hard-worked-for flexibility.
  • Do a few push-ups and sit-ups while you’re watching your favorite summer dance TV show! For younger students, have them lay on their tummies and push up until their arms are straight (with their hips still on the ground) and come back down. See if they can lay flat on their back with legs straight, sit all the way up and touch their toes.

• Dancing What’s more fun than dancing?! I’m pretty sure someone famous said, “When in doubt, dance it out”.
  • Have a dance party! Put on some fun music and let your dancer explore any and all movement. Mix up the types of music to inspire more creativity.
  • Play Just Dance (or a similar game) on your gaming system. It’s the most fun when adults (ahem, dads) are involved.
  • Play Freeze Dance with friends. When the music is on, everybody’s dancing. When the music stops, last one to freeze (or first one to move) is out!
  • Let your dancer experiment with choreography. They can pick their favorite song, choreograph a dance, then select a costume and put on a performance in your living room!

Summer can be tough on us parents, but we’re here to make it easier! Whether it’s bringing your dancer to camps and classes, or doing fun dance-related things at home, dancing through summer is the way to go. And it’s even more fun when the grown-ups join in! So get out in the sunshine, whip out a few pirouettes or splits (ouch!), and have a great summer with your tiny dancers.

— Miss Beth