Fall in Love with Learning By… Dancing?

Thousands of students dancing in synchronization, to dance moves that they only learnt a few minutes beforehand. What’s all this about?

At the recent National Young Leaders Day events, thousands of students were entertained and inspired by the talented dance teachers from Dance Curriculum.

The special segment had students in awe from the beginning. It commenced with accomplished dancer and Co-Founder, Ezra Bush, dancing with a level of creativity and precision that most students would only have seen in music video clips. With students on the edge of their seats, Ezra quickly got them out of the seats and on the path to putting their own dance masterpiece together.

Shortly after, the crowd of thousands were united as they completed a brand-new dance sequence together.

Ezra told the students about how learning to dance has changed the way he approaches learning anything new in his life.

“If you would have met me when I was just seven years old, you would have seen me stomping around in my families bathroom because I liked the way my feet sounded when they hit the floor” Ezra explained. “Little did I know that Mum was listening from outside the bathroom. She busted into the bathroom to ask me what I was doing. When I told her that I was dancing, she offered to take me to dance lessons. After two years I was still terrible, but after 12 years I became a professional dancer.”

“I discovered that not many children truly get to experience the power of taking on huge challenges with a growth mindset. Along with my friend Dean Langham, we decided to dedicate our lives to help children fall in love with learning. Through the power of dance, anyone can cultivate a growth mindset with the courage to try new things, take on challenges and make mistakes in front of other people.”

On the stage together, Ezra and Dean taught the students a dance that they choreographed together. The dance incorporated a number of moves made popular by sports stars and tik-tok dances, with students truly feeling like they were learning something contemporary and edgy.

During the breaks of the event, Ezra and Dean were bombarded for autographs and photos just like the celebrity speakers.

When asked off-stage about the reasons why he has shifted his focus from performing to teaching dance, Ezra said “We believe teachers should be able to focus on their own core competencies and not be forced to teach something they are not passionate about, which for a lot of teachers, includes dance. Dance Curriculum is here to help schools deliver the best possible dance program for their students.”

“Anybody can fall in love with learning in under ten days, through the magic of dance” said Ezra. From the look of the student participation at the National Young Leaders Day, it seems that many will fall in love with learning in under ten minutes.

Since commencing in 2014, Dance Curriculum have taught over 200,000 students in schools.

Ezra and the team at Dance Curriculum have worked hard to bring the experience of their live programs onto an online platform. This allows students learning at home to experience the challenges and joys of dance from their living room, and continue developing their love for learning even when not at school. To learn more about this program, and get your students dancing at home, visit http://www.dancecurriculum.com.au/online-program/