Leon looks around for a moment, observes the other children, and looks for his teacher. Then he shrugs his shoulders, raises his hands in the air, and just goes along with it. Like the man with the blue shirt and the microphone, he kneels, stands on one leg, shuts himself and makes a terrifying grimace. "Here I am and I matter" sings the man, and leon follows suit. Yes, dancing is fun – and it makes you strong. And in many respects.
The man in the blue T-shirt is christian bahrmann, known from the tv show "kikaninchen and in the meantime knows its way around children well. Not only does he have to worry about three of them at home, but he has also met quite a few on his travels through germany in the meantime. In kitzingen alone, adem can, managing director of the KDS dance schools, has ensured that 357 kids between the ages of three and six are cavorting in front of the stage, waiting to join in with "christian true to the motto "dancing makes you strong" to move.
Body and mind challenged
Not only five-year-old leon finds out that dancing is quite exhausting. Six-year-old sina and her friend mara also have red heads. "I already know this dance", she says and claps her hand at exactly the right time. "Phew, now I'm getting warm." Christian bahrmann has already achieved his first goal. "We try to motivate the children to dance and to move with playful means", explains the presenter, who himself has many a bead of sweat on his forehead. "The dance movement shuffle we call for example cucumber cutting, who slides, pushes an elephant away." So even small children can remember different movements – by having a picture in front of their eyes. Simple gymnastics and coordination exercises are also integrated into dance. "The few hours of sport in kindergarten or school are not enough", says christian. "The children sit so much, play on the computer or watch television – they need exercise."
Concentrated and confident
But it is not only the physical aspect that makes dancing so valuable for children. "He who moves, learns more easily", is not only christian bahrmann's thesis – it has also been scientifically proven. So dancing also makes you smart – and what else??
That at least the workshop in kitzingen's sickergrund has also strengthened the cohesion among the children is shown when leon starts to stumble. He bumps into sina, they both fall down and get up again together. "Not so bad", mumbles the six-year-old and laughs. She quickly turns her attention back to the presenter, who is already showing a new movement – that of his buddy, the cowboy. Self-confidently she stands there, her hand clasped in her hoof, and nods coolly. Many children lack self-confidence because they don't move enough, because they may be overweight, and because they experience mental and physical violence in kindergarten. Just at the moment, however, they are miles away from it. Dancing makes you strong.