Unpopular Opinion: Don't Teach Arabesque to Your Students Until They Are at Least 7 Years Old

As dance educators, we all want to help our students grow and develop their technique from a young age. However, there’s an important aspect of early dance training that is often overlooked: the developmental readiness of young children for certain poses and movements. One such movement is the arabesque — the elegant, graceful extension of the leg behind the body. While it may seem like a beautiful and fundamental step to introduce early on, there are compelling reasons why we should hold off on teaching arabesque to children under the age of 7.

The Challenge of Body Awareness

One of the primary reasons why arabesque can be difficult for younger children is that it requires a well-developed sense of body awareness, also known as proprioception. Proprioception is the ability to sense where your body parts are in space, even without looking at them. When we teach arabesque, we are asking students to balance on one leg while extending the other behind them, often to a height that places the leg well out of their direct line of sight.

For children under 7, this can be a major challenge. Their bodies simply haven’t developed the ability to fully sense or visualize body parts when they are positioned behind them. The frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for motor planning, coordination, and spatial awareness, is still developing at this age. Because of this, young children often lack the neural pathways needed to make these complex movements with control and precision. In an arabesque, this lack of body awareness can result in poor alignment, muscle strain, or even falls. A child might extend their leg too high or fail to maintain proper balance, which can lead to bad habits and potential injury.

The Role of the Frontal Lobe

The development of the frontal lobe is crucial to a child’s ability to execute more advanced movements. This area of the brain helps with focus, planning, and muscle coordination. It doesn’t fully mature until around the ages of 7 to 8, which means younger children may not yet have the mental capacity to understand and execute complex movements that require precision and a high degree of body awareness. While they may be able to perform simpler movements, like walking or jumping, more intricate poses like arabesque often exceed their developmental stage.

Before this age, children are still in the process of learning how to coordinate their limbs in space, and movements that involve the body going out of their direct sight — like lifting a leg behind them — can feel disorienting. Expecting a child to hold an arabesque position without the mental and physical maturity to understand the alignment and balance needed can result in frustration for both the teacher and the student.

Focus on Building a Strong Foundation First

Rather than rushing to teach arabesque, it’s more beneficial to focus on building a strong foundation in the early years. This means emphasizing simpler skills that develop coordination, flexibility, balance, and strength in a way that is age-appropriate. These foundational skills — like learning how to balance on one leg, practicing core strength, and developing basic flexibility — will prepare the child for more advanced movements down the road. For example, working on plies, tendus, and basic positions helps children understand alignment and body control without the complexity of extending a leg behind them.

In addition to physical development, younger children also benefit from focusing on rhythm, body awareness, and basic dance steps that lay the groundwork for more advanced technique later on. These skills allow them to build confidence in their abilities, helping them feel more prepared when they are older and ready to tackle more complex poses like arabesque.

Why Age 7 is a Turning Point

Around the ages of 7 or 8, many children’s bodies and brains are better prepared for movements that require a more refined sense of spatial awareness. At this stage, their proprioception improves, allowing them to feel and control body parts that are not directly in their line of sight. Their frontal lobes are also developing more fully, giving them the mental capacity to understand and execute more complex movements with greater precision. This is the age when children are better able to execute an arabesque correctly, with the proper alignment and balance, without risking unnecessary strain or injury.

When students are introduced to arabesque at this age, they are more likely to understand the importance of posture, alignment, and balance, making it easier for them to perform the movement safely and correctly. Their bodies are stronger and more capable of handling the demands of the pose, and their brains are more equipped to process the coordination involved.

Conclusion: Patience Leads to Better Results

While it can be tempting to introduce advanced movements like arabesque early on in a child's dance education, it’s essential to recognize the developmental milestones that must be met before attempting such complex movements. Teaching arabesque to children under 7 is often premature and may lead to frustration, misalignment, and even injury. Instead, we should focus on building a solid foundation of balance, flexibility, and body awareness, allowing children to grow at their own pace. By waiting until they are developmentally ready — around the ages of 7 or 8 — we can ensure that they not only perform the arabesque correctly but do so safely, with proper technique that will set them up for long-term success in their dance training.