Does being a dancer have anything to do with making you a better astronaut? According to Dr. Mae Jemison, absolutely!
Jemison became the first woman of color to travel to space in 1992. The former NASA astronaut says that there is a profound link between arts and sciences.
How Being a Dancer Makes You a Better Astronaut
She tells CNN, “We are very physical beings, so dance is physically exploring the world. So frequently, people think of the arts and the sciences as separate and not connected. Both of them are required for creativity. Both of them are required to move the world forward.”
Growing up in Chicago, Mae Jemison said that she considered a career in dance. But, decided to pursue a medical degree instead. She’s also a doctor, dancer, and chemical engineer. However, dance created that strong foundation that propelled her career in science.
“Dancers have to be very disciplined. You have to practice all the time. You have to constantly rehearse and pay attention to the people around you. You have to memorize complicated structures and scenarios. You have to be pretty thick-skinned as well because you have to be able to take criticism and apply it. All of those things are valuable,” she says.
It takes a lot of discipline and training to spend a week in space, as Jemison did decades ago. She couldn’t have done it alone.
Jemison said she wanted to take people on her journey. Therefore, she brought along a certificate from Chicago public schools and an AKA Sorority flag. Jemison took a Bundu statue that represents the womens society in West Africa. She also included a statue of Judith Jamison performing the dance “Cry,” from the Alvin Ailey dance company.
Each item represented important parts of her life, symbolizing her core strength and determination to see the mission through.
How Sports Help Students Excel in the Classroom
I wasn’t a dancer growing up, but I was extremely involved in athletics and music as a youth.
In fact, being a singer and an athlete has taught me a lot about discipline and determination. When it came to writing term papers and studying for exams, I was able to focus and manage my time accordingly. Now that I am a mom, I can pass along that same message to my children.
O’Shea started playing soccer a little over a year ago. We’ve seen him go from the shy kid who was afraid of hurting the other little kids, to a little boy who isn’t afraid to kick the ball into the goal. He’s also become more focused with reading and math skills as a result.
His big sister, on the other hand, has been dancing since the age of three. She’s blossomed into a graceful ballerina. I’ve seen how being physically active has helped her academically too.
Some parents may be concerned that too much physical activities can have a negative impact on a child’s education. But, that’s not always the case.
While playing sports and doing well academically can be a difficult juggling act, it’s clear that it actually helps with creativity and problem solving.
Stephen Baddeley, director of sport at the University of Bath makes the point that self-discipline lends itself well to academic focus. “The mind wanders when doing essays, but if you develop a focus and know you have to use your time efficiently then it’s a very transferable skill,” says Baddeley.
Dancing Classrooms
While schools are known to incorporate athletics, there are also some that incorporate dance into their academic program. In an evaluation of Dancing Classrooms in New York City, 95 percent of teachers said that as a result of dancing together, there was an improvement in students’ abilities to cooperate and collaborate.
In a survey in Los Angeles, 66 percent of school principals said that after being in the program, their students showed an increased acceptance of others, and 81 percent of students said they treated others with more respect.
It’s evident that active children can lead to rewarding academic future.
So, if you’re trying to decide whether or not to enroll you child into a dance program, think of Dr. Mae Jemison.
She proves that fostering a child’s love of dance is also important furthering a child’s development in the classroom, which can translate into a successful professional career as well.
