Too much dance, too soon?

It is arguable that it is considered the norm for dancers to begin their training in their early years however this is not a condition of becoming a successful dance artist. Many notable dancers and choreographers began their training a little later in life, or for reasons other than becoming a dancer. For example Matthew Bourne, iconic choreographer, began his training aged 21 at Trinity Laban, and prima ballerina Darcey Bussell was sent to ballet lessons originally as a result of suffering from knock-knees. Despite this, there are many dancers all over the world who are barely out of nappies before they embark on dance training, with their parents pushing them towards a certain dance level before they (and their bodies) are quite ready. Noted throughout the gymnastic strand of the performing arts and now more and more apparent for dance too is young dancers' flexibility being pushed by external forces, perhaps even substituting health and wellbeing for this. It is an assumption to label these parents and teachers in a certain way when it is clear that they have the child's interests at heart, however sometimes this gets lost on the way to other motivations. It is clear too now that young children are being encouraged to carry out strength training in preparation for or maintenance of their dancing lives. This is not necessarily a good preparation, for boys or girls, as extensive activity can cause other problems early on such as joint and muscles damage and stunted growth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ_KuvGDfGM The video taken from YouTube features 4 year old Alexei Orohovsky. According to the YouTube description he saw this variation and loved it so much, he decided to perform it. No pushy parents behind the scenes. He's not worried about technique, he's just happy to perform a dance he loves, and it shows! On the other hand, Judith Mackrell, notable dance critic and author recently published an article as an observation of young children and dance in The Guardian online. She highlighted children as young as toddlers "performing" challenging variations - such as those from Le Corsaire and The Sleeping Beauty - where children have been encouraged to copy for fun or otherwise. However our children start to dance, whatever age, it can only benefit their health, discipline and general well-being, can't it? Just look on the face of little Alexei Orohovsky!