Preschool Age Dance Curriculum

MotorMuscles©

MotorMuscles is the name of the curriculum we use to guide our weekly lessons for our Dance & Performance classes.

Description

MotorMuscles© themes are part of the curriculum we use for our Dance & Performance classes. The 2-4-year-old, and the 3-5-year-old age groups will learn these themes simultaneously, giving you some repetition on lesson plans each week and cutting down your planning time. The difference between the two age groups will come down to level of structure, parent involvement, application, and pace.

MotorMuscles© was designed by Jana Chapeton with the intention of keeping developmental and growth goals at the forefront of each class.

The name MotorMuscles was strategically set with the intention of having the dancers know, own, and understand how their bodies move and generate energy.

These goals should be heavily weighted regardless of the dancers performance plan or comfort. A successful and healthy dancer will carry these lessons and awareness way beyond the studio and performance choreography. For example, helping dancers learn how to cross the midline of their body will aid in early reading progress.

Secondary to the developmental goals, preschool choreography will be enhanced and executed with more strength given the diligent application of MotorMuscles© themes and lessons.

Year-Round Curriculum

Our Dance & Performance classes are designed to run year-round. There are natural transitions between “seasons” when we complete a performance. The performances allow a studio to run sessions if desired. However, we do not run sessions at our studios for these levels. Students may join at any point of the season. The classes are all designed for beginners and are meant to develop dancers and expose them to various styles of dance during their preschool years.

MotorMuscles provides overarching themes to drive our lesson plans. We rotate through those themes every two months. Each lesson within the theme is applied for two weeks of time. These themes repeat annually regardless of the style we are currently teaching.

Balance (January / February)

Dynamic balance – bean bags
One Leg – coupe, passe
Core – plank and side plank
Static balance – releve

Music (March / April)

Electronic Music
Instrumental and Classical Music
Melody / Vocals
Verse / Chorus

Rhythm and Tempo (May / June)

Opposites
Patterns
Paradiddle
1-2-3 Break

Motor Skills (July / August)

Skip (step hop)
Gallop (lateral and forward)
Hop, Jump, Leap
Walk, Run

Cross the Midline (September / October)

Hand to opposite toe
Upper body
Lower body
Arm circles

Flexibility (November / December)

Splits – second and fourth positions
Hips – external rotation (frog stretch)
Hamstring stretch – standing and seated
Core – basket pose and child’s pose

Sample Dance Season

The image on the right breaks down what a typical season looks like at our studio. There are two 6-month seasons each year that culminate in optional performances for the dancers. After each performance we move on to the next style of dance on our rotation.

Our rotations follow this pattern: Ballet > Tap > Jazz > Ballet > Tap > Hip Hop > Ballet > Tap > Musical Theatre…repeat.

MotorMuscles themes are built into each season and rotate through themes every two months. In this example, we would rotate through balance, music, and rhythm & tempo.

Weekly lesson plans would breakdown each theme into two week sections that allow you to focus on specific skills or movements. For example, our Balance theme would look like this:

Balance (January / February)

Weeks 1-2: Dynamic balance – bean bags
Weeks 3-4: One Leg – coupe, passe
Weeks 5-6: Core – plank and side plank
Weeks 7-8: Static balance – releve

Ready to get started?

We’ve taken the system above and broken it down into weekly lesson plans you can use at your studio. Follow along with us every week as we release that week’s plan or purchase a single season’s worth of lesson plans, playlists, and more…

Premium Membership

Access to new weekly lesson plans, themes, playlists, and choreography updates.
Access to the entire archive of past lesson plans, playlists, and choreography.
Join our monthly live meetings for tips and coaching on how to run your preschool classes.
Access to our playlists.
Access to our song lists so you can make your own playlists.
Performance patch designs to hand out at recital.

Purchase Single Season