Dance as Part of Kiwisport – a great physical activity to get youth fit!
“A broad view of sport or physical recreation is needed within schools in relation to the new Kiwisport physical
activity initiative announced today” says DANZ Executive Director Tania Kopytko.
While DANZ, the national organisation for dance in Aotearoa New Zealand, agrees the new injection of funds directly to
schools to increase student’s physical activity is a good initiative, it is important that a broad range of physical
activity is encouraged. Recreational activities need to be of interest to youth, as interest is a primary motivator for
participation.
“Dance is highly popular with youth and they are motivated to get involved. By dance I am meaning everything from haka
to hip hop, tap to ballroom” says Tania.
The 2008 SPARC research showed 549,112 or 16.8% of New Zealand adults (aged 16 years and over) regularly participate in
dance. By comparison rugby and netball combined have just under 350,000 participating in the same age groups. Dance is
the 8th most popular physical activity for New Zealanders. For women, dance ranks fifth, higher than cycling,
jogging/running and pilates/yoga with 22.6% of New Zealand women dancing.
Dance is a key component of Māori, Pacific Island and migrant cultures, where it expresses core cultural values and
identity. In the SPARC research dance is ranked the 6th most popular activity with Māori and Asian, 5th with Pacific
Island, 8th with NZ European and 7th with Others, who are largely Middle-Eastern, Latin American and African
ethnicities.
Dance is currently in the Physical Education and Arts curriculums in schools. Yet its full potential as a subject is
still to be realised, it is a tool for developing everything from health and fitness to understanding identity and
history, exploring creative thinking or developing leadership skills.
Most schools in New Zealand have dance clubs, often initiated by the students themselves. This degree of enthusiasm for
dance is a fantastic basis to build on. It opens the door to some great community involvement in order to encourage a
diversity of dance.
With this new funding injection it would be good to see schools make some broad recreational choices and consult young
people on what they would like to do.
“I am confident that dance will feature highly as a desired physical activity option for young people”says Tania.
More information on the Kiwisport initiative: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/kiwisport+initiative+good+young+people
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