Is your child an aspiring actor or actress? If so, you may think that drama lessons are the only schooling they need to achieve their goal. However, there's another type of performing art that can be very helpful to young acting enthusiasts—dance. Here are 3 reasons why you should enrol your budding star in kids dance classes.

Dance Opens Up More Potential Roles

One of the biggest benefits of learning to dance is that it opens up more potential roles. Getting experience on stage is an important step in most children's journeys to becoming a film or TV star, but roles for young performers can be few and far between. Taking dance classes gives your child the opportunity to audition for a whole new world of roles in the form of musical theatre. If your child can sing too, there'll be lead positions available in popular musicals like Mary Poppins and Oliver Twist. However, even if their vocals aren't strong enough for a main role, they'll be able to use their new dance skills as part of a chorus or ensemble.

Dance Improves Mental Wellbeing

Acting can be very mentally taxing, especially for children and teenagers. From hours spent rehearsing and learning new techniques to the difficulty of failed auditions, the daily life of an aspiring actor or actress can quickly take its toll on young minds. Dance classes are a great way for kids to let loose, have fun, and relax their minds. It gives them a way to express emotions and it releases mood-boosting chemicals that relieve stress and unhappiness. If your child is becoming fatigued by the repetitive nature of rehearsing and auditioning, learning dance routines is also a great way to keep the mind focused.

Dance Tips Can Carry Over to Acting

If your child is enrolled in acting school, they're probably receiving plenty of advice and drama tips from their teachers on a weekly basis. However, since most of their teachers will only have experience in acting, they could be missing out on a wide variety of techniques and tricks from performers in other disciplines. In dance classes, your budding actor or actress will learn numerous tips that apply to acting and drama too. For example, dance involves displaying emotion without talking. This can help your child learn how to match their physical acting and facial expressions to the dialogue they deliver in auditions. Likewise, learning how to put a personal spin on set choreography can teach a child how to make a script their own when acting.