Summary
Dance is an art form that is embodied, where children convey ideas, feelings, identities and stories through movement and stillness. It is a different art form, but related to music through rhythm, beat and tempo (Keller, 2019). Children make sense of their body, space, time, energy and relationships as they explore and create meaning through movement. Dance helps develop physical skills, imagination, communication, cooperation, confidence, memory and problem solving (Roy et al., 2019). Children participate as dancers, choreographers and audiences by exploring, organising, performing, observing and reflecting. Social and traditional dancing also helps to link children to culture, community, identity and belonging and so educators should respectfully explain where and why the dancing is important (Dinham & Chalk, 2018). Dance can be used to develop identity, connectedness, wellbeing, learning and communication as it contributes to all five EYLF learning outcomes (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022). Children have purposeful choices through inclusive dancing. Children may be standing, sitting, lying/supported and communicate using gesture, facial expression, props or assistive tools.