Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the amount of research out there on every imaginable topic. With just as much research to prove one side right, there seem to be just as much evidence to prove the opposite is true. So my faith in the performing arts really comes back to my fundamental need to express, and my own experience of how it has shaped me to become who I am today.

ACTING
Linda Morgan, editor with ParentMap and author of the book Beyond Smart says “acting and drama can helps kids develop emotionally and academically.” It makes simple logical sense. In acting, students work on memorization of lines, timing and following cues. It also improv their public speaking skills. The material present can lead students to learn about history and authors while having fun at the same time. Furthermore, acting helps students develop better understanding of human emotions, and their abilities to connect, interact and collaborate with other individuals. It helps build confidence in the students in a fun and positive atmosphere.

DANCE
In today's obese culture of fattening foods and overweight children and adults, any opportunity we have to foster a healthier, exercise based lifestyle in our next generation is a plus. Dance is one of the ways students can enjoy exercise in a fun and team building environment. It also carries similar benefits acting classes has when it comes to helping student build emotional understanding and of student's confidence. But beyond the obvious physical benefits of dance, Massachusetts Institute of Technology student's after-school program uses dance to improve math skills. This is just one of the many programs out there that believe dance and music has a direct benefit for student's development in mathematics.

MUSIC
Music is probably one of the most studied discipline when it comes to its correlations to academic benefits. The Mozart effect was one of the best known that links listening to classical music can benefit infants brain development. A 2005 University of North Carolina at Greensboro also report that several academic studies have found overall increases in test scores across academic disciplines for those who are in music programs or play a musical instrument.

All performing arts carry the same fundamental idea of building confidence, and we want to help students achieve their full potential here at PopRock Academy in Alhambra.

PopRock Academy is conveniently centrally located in the West San Gabriel Valley. We are 5 to 10 minutes away from Pasadena and San Marino to our north, San Gabriel, Temple City and Arcadia to our east and Monterey Park and Rosemead to our south. Stop by our studio to find out more about what we have to offer.