What Your Child Can Learn From Watching Live Entertainment

Live entertainment brings with it a sense of magic and joy whether it’s a play, musical theatre, concert, stand-up comedy or just a weekend at the local jazz club. Sadly, many schools are losing music and drama programs because of budget cuts, and with the loss of those programs, students are losing the experience of the performing arts. The benefits gained from live performance are many, and taking children to see live entertainment encourages a love for the arts and a desire to participate in bringing joy to others. Brain Development Early musical training has been shown to increase development of the areas of the brain that deal with the use of language and reasoning and can actually help to create new neural pathways in the brain. That is no small accomplishment. It helps develop parts of the brain that will later be vital in understanding mathematics and envisioning spatial relationships. Students of the arts learn to think creatively and look at things “outside the box.” They learn that there are seldom occasions when there is only one “right” answer, and they become used to imagining a variety of solutions to problems rather than relying on worn out rules and outdated ways of looking at the world. Intellectual and Emotional Experience It has been said that to enjoy theatre one must employ a suspension of disbelief. Obviously, theatre-goers realize that the people on the stage are actors, but they suspend that disbelief while they are watching the show so they can become intellectual and emotional participants in the drama. rnLes Miserables is one of the best loved musicals in theatre history, and even those who have seen the show numerous times wipe away tears when the young rebels die on the barricade. Yes, they are just actors, but they are so good at what they do that it is impossible not to believe. Children cannot help but learn empathy from experiencing this kind of live theatre in addition to learning something of the history of the French Revolution, and gaining some familiarity with the writings of a renowned author. That is one power-packed trip to the theatre! Cooperation vs. Competition Children can also realize the value of cooperation as opposed to competition from the performing arts, as well as gaining an outlet for self-expression and a way to develop self-confidence. Watching musicians and actors perform teaches a child how to interact with an audience, bolstering communication skills and a feeling of authority and confidence when dealing with their classmates and teachers. Language Skills and Rhythm Yet another kind of live entertainment is found at events like poetry readings. Young people can gain invaluable exposure to the professional use of the English language and the works of beloved poets from other times and cultures. They can develop a feeling for the sounds and rhythms of the sonnets, the eclectic use of language by poets like e.e cummings, the witty writings of Ogden Nash, and the majesty of Shakespeare. This can connect them with the rhythms of music and dance in an intimate way they couldn’t otherwise experience. Even the littlest of participants at the library’s reading hour respond to the poetry of Dr. Seuss, read aloud, memorizing the lyrical lines long before they can read the actual words. And how many adults, having read those Seuss-isms to their children, can still recite these little treasures long into adulthood? They claim a corner of our hearts as surely as Browning and Wordsworth. rnConquering Fear and Anxiety A wise music teacher once wrote these words on his chalkboard every morning: “Better a wrong note played with conviction than a right note played with hesitation.” Live performance teaches children to conquer their fears and take risks. People deal with anxiety throughout their lives, and learning at a young age how to conquer the effects of anxiety and move through a performance with confidence is a skill that will be theirs for a lifetime. Conclusion We do our young people a great service by exposing them to live entertainment and encouraging them to imagine themselves on that stage. Whatever area of the arts catches their interest and sparks their dreams, they will derive a lifetime of pure pleasure as well as immeasurable intellectual, emotional and social benefits from becoming involved in the performing arts.