Brain-Compatible Dance Education: an integral piece of early development

I am a dance teacher who has had the opportunity to learn some of the nationally and internationally recognized teaching methodologies. In my studies, I have recognized the importance of using these techniques on children in their early development years. Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for such teachings, but I have studied the Brain-Compatible Dance Education curriculum designed by Anne Green Gilbert and have been in love with it ever since. Therefore, I aim to shed some light on the not-so-well-known benefits of putting young developing children in Brain-Compatible Dance Education, informing you on what exactly BCDE is and whether it is worth considering for your little ones. 

What is BCDE?

Brain-compatible dance education is a lengthy title for simply using structured lesson plans and strategies to aid sensory and motor skill development, helping the brain be ready, willing, and able to learn. Instructors using this technique use a simple five-part lesson plan in which students explore various dance concepts. 

Part one

The first part of every BCDE class, and the main focus of today’s post, is the Brain Dance warmup. A Brain Dance is a collaboration of using breath, tactile, core-distal, head-tail, upper-lower, body-side, cross-lateral and vestibular motions that warm the body and both sides of the brain to ready oneself for learning. These motions consist of developmental movement patterns that healthy humans naturally move through in the first year of life. 

So now let’s get into the nitty-gritty details of why the Brain Dance warmup, in my opinion, is so beneficial:

1. Increases blood and oxygen flow

Integrating breath into a warm-up naturally increases blood flow to the brain and respiratory system, which is highly beneficial considering that blood and oxygen are food for the brain. 

2. Stimulates the neurological system

Doing the developmental movement patterns in the Brain Dance lays the foundation for sensory-motor skill development. They can also improve balance, attention span, memory, eye-tracking, behaviour, sensory integration, and motor skills. Doing the Brain Dance daily can also improve social skills and learning in school. The way a mentor of mine described it to me once that helped click this idea in my mind was that young children are a lot like young animals… they are meant to bite each other, wrestle, roll around, balance and hang off of things, as this is integral in their development. Without these experiences, they lack certain sensations crucial for neurological development. 

3. Core strength and alignment 

All the movements done in the Brain Dance also aid in developing core strength and alignment. Each muscle group is activated with each section of the warmup, slowly increasing difficulty and repetition, which over time, strengthens the body. 

4. Understanding the elements of dance technique

Along with developing strength, the Brain Dance warmup also introduces routine and technique, which is crucial for learning dance. Balancing, stretching, spinning and copying movement is essential for any young dancer to become familiar with. Even if your child does not wish to continue in dance long term, learning to hone these skills at an early age, you’ll find will help in all aspects of life. 

I hope you found this post as educational and insightful as I first did when introduced to BCDE. The Brain Dance warmup is simply just the first of five parts of the BCDE syllabus. Regardless of the desire to pursue dance long-term, these foundational teachings will be found useful to any youngin’ as they grow and develop.

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