TIKTOK IS INSPIRING KIDS TO TAKE UP DANCE.
HUNTER DANCE CENTER.
TikTok has sparked interest from students who are entering dance for the first time later in life, according to local studios.
Traditionally, beginners enroll at Hunter Dance Center in early elementary school, says owner Annie Arnoult, but in recent months, TikTok has “cracked a door (for tweens and teens) who are interested enough in it to give it a shot.”
The social-media platform “gives them an actual visual of what it looks like to move your body in a fun, rhythmic way,” Arnoult says.
As they take on TikTok challenges, some want to take the next step by enrolling in formal classes, she says — especially in hip-hop.
As a concert dance instructor, Arnoult says the internet doesn’t fully represent the art form in genres she offers, including hip-hop, modern dance, ballet, aerial fabrics and acrobatic dance, “but I’m all about access … if it’s opening a door and if it’s pulling dance into … youth pop culture.”
Interest in TikTok has brought new girls and boys to her studio, but Arnoult points out that Hunter (hunterdancecenter.com) has had a robust boys’ program since it opened in 2015. It also has nonbinary students.
Boys make up half or the majority of several classes, and Arnoult credits this in part to the large number of male instructors she employs.
“We want to say, ‘There is absolutely a place for you to here in the dance world and we want to show you where it is.’ ”
Modern dance attracts a lot of young male dancers to Hunter, she says.
“They’re barefoot, they roll around on the floor and do cartwheels and handstands and other physical skills that are a little bit more daring and acrobatic,” she says.
Karmetra Shy is a hip-hop instructor at Houston City Dance (houstoncitydance.com) in Bellaire, where she says almost all new students tell her they’ve enrolled to learn popular TikTok dances.
Shy corrects them, explaining that the hip-hop course will cover the history and fundamentals of the genre.
Through repetition, adolescents learn basic hip-hop moves such as the slide, bounce and wave.
Once they’ve mastered a move, Shy might show her pupils how the particular step is part of a recognizable TikTok dance.
“I want you to get the foundation, then you’ll be able to add your style to it,” she tells them.
“Once you learn the foundation … you move how you would like to for the music.”
Ian Turner, 13, began dancing when he was 7.
He takes several classes at Hunter each week across hiphop, modern, boys technique, ballet, aerial fabrics and acrobatic dance. He is also a member of Hunter’s youth performing ensemble.
“He doesn’t know or can think of a world without being at the studio,” says his mom, Elissa Turner, a former professional dancer.
Ian hopes to pursue dance in college and as a career, specifically showing interest in hip-hop and B-boying.
Ian currently is homeschooled and has found a community in dance, Turner says, and has matured as he has learned to perform on a stage, with professional male dancers as mentors.
“He has gained a lot of confidence about who he is because there are these role models, these artists that he gets to be around and learn from,” she says. “Men that are confident and are unapologetic about who they are and share what they love with the kids.”
“There’s no stigma for him as far as dance is concerned where there used to be,” she says. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
CHILDREN LEARN TO DANCE AT