Return to Pointer View home page September 24,  2004

Keeping them on their toes

Story  and photos by Kathy Eastwood
Staff Writer

Pale pink leotards and crisp white tutus dance through the dreams of young girls yearning to be ballerinas. Twirling and bending, jumping and swishing, marked realizing that dream for some small West Point community members Sept. 9 with the start of Kinderballet here.

West Point’s Youth Services sponsors various dance classes for all ages from September through the school year.  Kinderballet features the “under five set.”

“This is a wonderful and magical age group,” said dance instructor Marisa Paull. “They have enough physical coordination and attention span to learn real ballet steps, but are still oriented towards imaginative play, which makes for a very colorful classroom environment.”

The children learn different ballet stances and how to move with the music. The classes also inspire many to think about the future.

“I love to dance and I want to be a cheerleader or a ballet dancer when I grow up,” said Kinderballet member Mattie Harvey.

Harvey’s mom Tracy said her daughter has been in one dance class or another since the age of three and was involved in the dance awareness class last year.  Tracy said her daughter gets a lot out of the experience.

Youth Services here offers dance classes for all ages during the school year. Dance instructor Marisa Paull said the lessons help give kids better self-esteem among other things.
Above left: Kinderballet participants (L-R): Jessica, Sara and Sara pay close attention as they practice their moves. Above right: Members practice their moves at the ballet bar September 9. Below right: (L-R): Mattie Harvy, Katherine Pierson, Elizabeth Govern and Jessica Harper stretch before starting their ballet class.

“Her posture has improved and she loves the classes and her teacher,” Tracy explained.

Paull said she enjoys the challenge of working with five-year-olds.

“I think introducing music and dance to a child early in life is like introducing a second language,” Paull explained. “It helps increase the child’s abilities for self-expression, opens a new understanding of the world and develops good self-esteem.”

Paull said it also helps provide them with a sense of accomplishment.

“After six or seven weeks of class when their toes start pointing and their legs start looking long and lean, I always make a point of telling them how far they have come,” she explained. “Their eyes light up when they remember how hard it was to do and now it’s starting to become second nature to them.”

Besides the Kinderballet, there are 20 other dance classes being offered each week in ballet, tap and jazz for various ages.  Registration for the second session of dance will begin October 29 and classes start the first week in December. For information on dance classes and other Youth Services activities, call 938-3727.