Does every little girl have to take dance?

It is not my thing but I keep getting asked if my 2 year old will take ballet 9esp by MIL and she keeps teaching her ballet poses and "tap."). I might have her do gymnastics, music or swimming but what do you think? Anyone else not interested in their daughter doing dance or is it just me??

Hell to the NO! I dont know how it is where you live, but around here the dance classes are all cute and fuzzy, ballet, tap, and then, they hit age 5, and its "Hip Hop", make my little girl look like a skank class. NO, no NO!

Sorry this is a sore subject for me.

Good luck!

My daughter has requested it...and I don't really care if she does it or not. If she really wanted to do it she could. Here is what we have told her. She can choose one sport (soccer, basketball, softball at a time OR dance) and Girl Scouts. She keeps choosing GS and a sport.

But no I don't think ALL girls have to be in dance.

My daughters have never done dance classes, and never will. How's that? LOL We just aren't into filling their schedule with stuff. They do play the harp, so we have harp lessons. That's it. You do not have to do any of those things. She will be just fine. And, at 2, I find it particularly disturbing to consider putting her in classes already. Let her be a baby still. Not an infant, but a baby. They really do grow up too fast, even if it doesn't feel like it today. Enjoy her without the madness. :)

my daughter asked to take dance at 2. so we put her in. i would love to get her in gymnastics too. she is 4 now and still loves it. i dont do it because i want to fill her time up. i do it because she enjoys it and is learning a skill. it gives her vital listening skills too. she has been able to follow direction so much better since starting. she has also gotten on their competitive dance team (yes she is the youngest on the team). she also has great memorization skills from dance. she knows 4 different dance routines now.
no i dont think every little girl needs to enroll in dance. i also dont think every little boy needs to do a sport. i think that if they show intrest and want to try it let them.

My lil' girl so far only does gymnastics and swimming.

I have three girls and I have a cheer leader, t-ball player, and my youngest is in ballet. I have never pushed dance on any of my girls and my little one only does ballet at my church. It is not studio at all and it is the only place I will allow her to take ballet/dance until she is older. I do not agree with the costumes that studios make little girls wear!

My DD also wants to dance, but it's hard for me to find a program that works with our schedule and is affordable...we did mommy and me dance for a few months, but it wasn't a good fit for us. She still wants to try ballet though, so we will wait until she is old enough for pre-ballet, which usually doesn't start until about 5 years old.

If I had to choose only one type of lesson it would be swimming. You daughter will never be at risk for not knowing how to dance, but knowing how to swim can be a life saver!
Good luck!

I'm one of 4 girls, and non of us took dance but I did want to do gymnastics, my cousin did. I guess it wasn't in my parents budget. My daughter didn't do it, however, if she wanted too, I would have considered it.

Let her do what SHE wants to do and she will do that better than all the other stuff you feel pressured to put her in. Everyone asked me about sports for my oldest. It was not his gig. But what boy doesn't want to sports is what I heard. Instead he asked for drum lessons. Oh...dear me. But it was what was his passion and we went ahead with it. Turns out he is a gifted musician. His private instructors are blown away by his abilities,natural rhythm and ease at quickly picking up new forms. He has a gift and passion for music.

Our daughter is an amazing swimmer and wants to try our gymnastics...so we will go in that direction.

Our youngest boy likes everything..he will most likely be good at lots of different things and eventually hone in on his favorite.

I do think it is important for each child to have some kind of hobby to pursue and become good at.

Let your little girl lead the way. 2 is young...let grandma keep teaching her for free!

Good luck and best wishes!

My sister and I took dance growing up.
It was fun for the most part but if I had a daughter, I wouldn't push it so much.
Half of the students where my son goes to taekwondo are girls and some of them can kick serious butt.
I'd promote an activity than gives them some aerobic activity and exercise but doesn't focus so much on looks and costumes.

Why don't you just wait to see what she's interested in? It could be roller derby, cello, tennis or science. Let her own light shine. Sounds like MIL might have had aspirations that didn't eventuate?

Of course they don't "have" to take dance. I actually used to hope that my girls wouldn't be interested in it because I saw what friends who had kids before me went through with their daughters. I never pushed them into it and while they showed interest when Girl Scouts would do a field trip or they do classes in PE, they never wanted to do it outside of that.

Instead they get to do a variety of activities through Girl Scouts and my eldest just recently made drill team. Whatever interests they have in addition we let them follow through with.

I am not going to push dance on my daughter unless it is something she wants to try. When I was a kid I remember doing a variety of things: dance, baton, piano, softball, swimming, cheerleading for my older brother's teams. I excelled at none of them to be honest, but I enjoyed trying. I always wanted to try gymnastic and was stoked to learn there was an after school club I could join when I was in 7th grade. I remember the first day I got on the uneven parallel bars. Holy crap! I was so scared just swinging on the lower bar that there was no way I was ever going to swing from that top bar! LOL Needless to say, my days were numbered in that club after that. I was more of a reader/writer/forensics club type. And I was a really shy kid in school until I got to college!
My point is let your daughter's interests drive most of the decision-making. If she is set on trying something, let her do it. If she is dead set against it, then let her pass on it. If she is sort of wishy-washy whether or not to try something, maybe try it out just to see what she thinks. You will develop a much happier, more confident kid and it will be easier on the pocketbook too! Good luck!
Angie

Great question! My daughter is 4.5 and I find it odd that a friend's daughter has already had on recital befor her second birthday and we have not put ou DD in anything yet. In answer to your question--No, not every girl has to take dance. I think the pp about the move to hip hop is a real concern as well as the whole sexy costumes and that shake your toushie move that recitals can' be without.

My DD has asked once or twice to take lessons. I don't really think she knows what is involved..the time, the listening to another teacher, the no missing a class. I have had visions of her dancing for body awareness, and poise but fear that there is a push toward performing for audiences and competing too much. I don't want her to think dance will be her career! SO many dance schools by me use the selling pitch that " our dancers go on to
Bway and the like. Scarrryyyyyy!

Sorry for rambling--- what aabout the idea of let's try a season and then see. Might that work? or does it go against sticking with something and not quitting.

I have found it usefull to tell the questioners in my life that "i am doing a lot of research" into what ever they are buttin" in about. I shuts them up for a while and they think I am deliberating with such dilligence;)

nope they don't have to.
May be the MIL was in dance as a child.
Let HER do what she wants to do though not what you are interested in her doing. She will even this young show interests.

My SON is in dance. He is a very talented tapper. He's on his 3rd yr he just turned 7. He started dancing because he saw his sister doing it and he ENJOYS it. My daughter is in year 6 of dance. She will try out for the company this next year.

Sounds like Grandma is interested, and you've decided no. Really it's up to your daughter -- but at her age, she will not have any notion of what interests her until she tries it. Children aren't hard-wired for one thing or another at this young an age; they will say they're interested in whatever their parents seem to be interested in, so if you are for or against one particular activity, she will be too -- but she's modeling you; she's not able to base any thoughts on any experiences yet.

So I'd let her do a six- or 10 -week "tiny tutus" type of dance class, and then an equally short toddler swimming class, and then an age-appropriate gymnastics class...And an art class eventually, and Music Together (perfect for her age). I'm not saying overload her; I'm saying, give her ONE-thing-at-a-time tastes of different activites. No September to June long-term commitments, just age-appropriate ones. And you have years to do it in, so there is no rush. She eventually will find she just loves one or two things best and might like others but really want more of certain ones. Variety is the key at her age. And dance is definitely an option. I bet grandma mostly wants to see her perform somehow, which is not a bad thing to want as a grandma, really, is it?

I never danced or knew much about dance, but my daughter started little-kid classes at about three and a half and is still dancing (a LOT) at age 10. I would not necessarily have "directed" her toward dance but it is truly HER thing that she found and loved. She had, and still has, lots of other interests and opportunities in other things and she does other stuff, but dance is her big commitment and interest outside school. Had I directed her to just what I was interested in, she wouldn't have found that; I started her in dance because she loved to dance around the house and would actually listen to classical music so I figured ballet would combine those things for her. So keep an open mind not just about dance but about whatever she's interested in doing -- she might want to mostly talk about dinosaurs, and you might find them boring, but go with that for now.

I have boys but it seems that so many of my friends that have girls put them in dance. At 2 years old, I'm sure she'll like most everything. I personally would put her in gymnastics if you have a gym nearby, it's such a great sport that's fun and has several good benefits!

Nope. Mine takes piano, did gymnastics for a short time, and now is in her 2nd year of Tang Soo Do (martial arts). She enjoyed the gymnastics, but scheduling was a terrible problem for our family. The Tang Soo do works out so much better as my son also takes it and has for YEARS. She has wanted to do martial arts also for a long long time. I don't think she would give up the martial arts for the gymnastics either.....

Martial arts actually can teach them a lot about handling their body in space as well. :)

My son cannot take any type of lessons as of yet because he is too young, however, I would be more concerned with the child's interests than my own. Is there a reason why you are so opposed to dance? If your daughter is getting exposed to dance by grandma and she shows interest in it, I see no problem with the class. If the opposite is true and your MIL is forcing it down her throat when she doesn't want to do it, then I would look for something that better suits her. By the way, my sister took dance but I took piano (I got to pick from all of the classes that were available).