Dancing can benefit kids by improving their physical and mental health, their social skills their confidence and even skills like memory and concentration — but how important is it?
As a lifelong dancer with training in ballet, tap and more, Margo Burr has experienced the benefits of dance firsthand. Burr says dance enhances children’s physical health by helping them stay active, build strength and flexibility and maintain good mental health.
Burr and her sister, Joy Lewis, founded Groove Kidz in 2018. The organization evolved from the all-girls self-esteem program the sisters had been operating into a mobile dance studio, and later a brick-and-mortar studio with travel options.
“We were just targeting one specific demographic, which is little girls, but boys need confidence boosting, too,” Burr says.
Groove Kidz now provides dance opportunities to thousands of children across Anne Arundel, Prince George’s and Baltimore counties, as well as Baltimore City. Its physical studio is in Linthicum Heights, in Anne Arundel County.
“It really helps with reducing stress and anxiety and depression,” Burr says.
And in addition to helping build stronger bodies and minds, dance also helps build stronger communities.
“We all, as people, we like entertainment. So, if our kids can come up and be cute and make people laugh and make people feel good, that’s exactly what I wanted to do, and I’m glad that we’re able to do so by offering dance to the community,” Burr says.
The Role of Dance in the Human Experience
According to some experts, dance is more than movement — it’s a core part of the human experience.
“I want to encourage parents to really open their minds and embrace this concept of dance being really core to the human experience and not something extra,” Kahina Haynes says.
Haynes, who is currently appointed on The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, was recognized by the National Black Voices for Black Justice Fund in 2022 for her work in addressing structural and systemic racism. She is also the executive director of The Dance Institute of Washington and a third-generation lifelong professional dancer and dance school owner.
A person’s right to express themselves through movement and music is essential, Haynes tells us, referencing a TED Talk she gave last year.
“I get a lot of pushback when I say things like ‘dance is essential,’” she says.
According to Haynes, people often respond to the idea by saying food and shelter are essential and that dance can’t be compared to these human needs.
“I can point to moments in history where those things that you are describing as essential did not exist. Food was not an existing variable. Food was not provisioned adequately during the slave trade; neither was shelter, but you had the survival of human beings,” Haynes explains. “You search for the role of dance, and it’s incontrovertible — the role that it had in maintaining the sense of humanity, the sense of community connection.”
Expanding Access
To make sure more children can access these benefits, communities need to understand and examine the barriers to access.
When talking about accessibility, people usually mean whether something is available. When talking about dance, there’s another layer to consider, according to Haynes.
“While [dance] may be provided and offered in ‘accessible’ places, what remains sort of high are the barriers to actually participating and [engaging] with the art form,” Haynes says.
These barriers can include factors like the cost of classes, costume costs, transportation and social stigma.
Burr is conscious of these barriers, and Groove Kidz works to increase access to dance by offering sponsorships to children who might otherwise not be able to afford it and by bringing dance instruction to preschools and elementary schools.
The sisters are furthering their quest to increase access to dance and other artistic pursuits with the development of a nonprofit, projected to rollout in the fall of 2025.
Haynes is optimistic that public attitudes toward dance are moving in the right direction.
“I see more momentum and increased support and investment in recent years to subsidizing those costs—whether it’s reducing the tuition or even offering full scholarships,” Haynes says.
Youth organizations like the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs of America also help provide affordable, local access to dance instruction, and that access is expanding. In July, Boys & Girls Clubs of Annapolis & Anne Arundel County announced the construction of a new standalone clubhouse in Lothian. The new clubhouse will include a dance studio.
