Perspectives on the pandemic from a children’s dance teacher

"...many new starters struggled to fit in and focus, and would appear much younger in their development..."

Broken Custodians will run occasional articles from those who have a unique insight into the impact of pandemic restrictions on children and young people. 

The author of this article is the owner of a dance studio who has taught children and young people for many years. She has noticed a difference in how her students learn and respond since the pandemic.

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Perspectives on the pandemic from a children’s dance teacher 

The lockdown policies are no longer in place, but it is imperative we ensure they never happen again, especially to our young. I could rattle on about my experiences during lockdowns, the struggle I had keeping my business alive and the impact on children for a good while, but my aim here is to tell my story of 2022, the year the world supposedly went back to some kind of normality. 

I truly believe every person had a very individual experience of the pandemic, whether they were key workers or their children, outdoor workers, office workers, in abusive relationships, self-employed, unemployed or pensioners. But no one experienced the collective harms quite as significantly as children, of all ages. 

I finally relaxed my shoulders once I knew we weren’t going into lockdown again over Christmas 2021 and into the new year. It meant my dance school would be open, with no restrictions, and I’d have most of my students back. I say most because I lost students of all ages during the pandemic.

It was lovely to say that we survived as a business and could welcome new little ones into the school. There was big demand in January 2022 because everyone was keen to get their children started in activities that they had delayed over the previous years. 

The youngest children struggled with social interaction

The biggest difference I have noticed in the three-year-olds we teach is that they get sensory overload. Some parents were so scared that they masked their three- to five-year-olds and didn’t let them out of their sight or encourage social interaction, even when it was ‘allowed’. (The fact that we could be ‘allowed’ to meet these basic human needs and rights still makes my blood boil.) Because of this, many new starters struggled to fit in and focus, and would appear much younger in their development. They seemed more like toddlers than preschoolers, unable to sit still, and would run around and scream rather than talk. I am all for children running and being chaotic; I love a bit of chaos, but we try to teach them to balance when that’s OK and when it’s time to be still. All early dance classes work on teaching good social skills like turn taking, patience, teamwork and confidence – or at least they should be. 

Physical health declined

We offered classes on Zoom during lockdown, but the younger school-age children couldn’t cope. Once they got bored of pulling faces at me through the screen or showing me their pets, they dropped away. The older ones that hung in there came back to in-person classes with lots of enthusiasm to see their dance friends, which was amazing. From a dance perspective it was a bit of a disaster, however, because young children don’t have the maturity to learn dance technique through a laptop or tablet. This meant that they were behind physically, and we’re still struggling with getting their dance technique back up to where it should be. 

Also, some children had become unfit and overweight for their age because they had all been dancing in the confines of their living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms. They had become used to just walking through the routines, getting little cardiovascular exercise, and as a result they had no stamina. Getting energy out of them in class took months!  

Learning retention worsened

One of the things that worries me the most is the children’s development as people. Because schools were closed, they didn’t learn by repetition in the same way. So their ability to retain information, such as dance routines, has been quite poor. Preparing for exams was a bit of a nightmare. We would teach a routine one week, and they would dance it well. The following week it was like they never even heard the music. Learning by repetition is a huge part of dance.

Emotional health and social relationships suffered

The pre-teenagers – who already go through a difficult time emotionally and hormonally – dropped out of our Zoom dance classes, moving on to social media. Some didn’t find their way back to classes – or even in some cases, school. One parent told me her 12-year-old wouldn’t leave the house and was on a very long waiting list for mental health support. Her child was suffering from Trichotillomania; she was literally pulling out her hair. It was a huge shame she never came back to class. Just a few years earlier she had been a confident child, wiggling her best self to an upbeat song on the front row of a dance show. 

The 13- to 15-year-old students who returned to the studio have put in a lot of effort to regain their friendships and work together in classes. They have come back strong regarding their activity, but they had the best base before lockdowns. They already had the basics in dance and schooling with regards to retaining information and knowing how to behave in class. However, most of this group moved from primary to secondary school after two years of lockdown, so that’s been a challenge. These older children crave fun and togetherness, social experiences – quite right too! So punctuality and attendance are the biggest issues with this age group.  

I run a very inclusive school. We are very much about loving dance and making experiences and memories for all children, no matter whether they are hobby kids or want to go on to dance professionally. Because of this I work on communicating with parents as best I can, and it has broken my heart this year to have conversations about their children who are self-harming, cutting arms and legs, or not eating, with so many of them on anxiety medication. 

Children need fun and reassurance, not fear

I truly believe that if the government had not surrounded the whole population with messages of fear, the children would have had a better chance. Children look to the adults around them for reassurance. They think their grown-ups can do anything and are afraid of nothing. The government messaging reduced capable grown adults into scared, anxious, paranoid wrecks. When children really needed their adults to be brave and reassuring, they were hiding behind masks, wiping down the shopping and telling them they couldn’t go near their granny. How terrifying for the children to see so many adults living in fear. 

As the restriction zealots start to bang their drums again this winter, I hope I have the strength to fight against this with every fibre of my being. It’s not just my business I’ve been trying to save these past years; it’s not just my own sanity. As long as my studio doors are open, all children regardless of actual dance ability will be welcome to smile, laugh, dance, make friends and create memories. They deserve a childhood filled with all those things. 

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