Ballet for almost-3-year-old

I'm interested in finding a ballet class for my pre-preschooler. Do they take them this young? My child is pretty good at listening and following directions and she loves dancing. I thought it might be a fun thing to do on a weekday afternoon or Saturday morning. Brenda

Re: Ballet for almost-3-year-old (Sept. 2003)
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My daughter had just turned 2 when she decided she was going to do ballet no matter what! We tried a couple of places, but found that the only teacher worth seeing is Debbie Goveia. She is totally in tune with preschoolers and is flexible with age. If your daughter is motivated and listens well, she will surely be welcome in Debbie's preschooler classes. I believe she is teaching a ''Story Dance'' class at Habitot on Thursday afternoons, and also teaches creative movement on Monday afternoons at CA Theatre Arts (www.ctarts.com) in Walnut Creek. She was trying to start a Thursday morning Mommy& Me class at CTarts also. Her classes are called Story Dance or Creative Movement, but it is all based on ballet moves - she just creates stories around the moves to make it fun for the kids, and the kids REALLY respond well to her. She is HIGHLY recommended! Jaime

Pre_Ballet for 4.5 yr old

My 4.5 yr old daughter is interested in ballet after seeing the Nutcracker this December. She's decided she would like to dance in the Nutcracker someday. Can anyone recommend, compare, or contrast the Pre-Ballet classes at Berkeley City Ballet and Berkeley Ballet Theater? Any other places I should consider? Thank you! Berkeley mom

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Ashkenaz on San Pablo offers pre-ballet and ballet for children 3.5 and up, with a focus, I'm told, on creativity and self- expression. Also, Luna Kids Dance is a really great program offered at a number of East Bay and SF locations that focuses on creative dance and improvisation (for older kids/teens they offer modern dance, too). As someone who spent most of her childhood and teenage years as a serious ballet student, I strongly advocate dance classes for young children that focus more on creative self-expression and ''make-believe'' than on ballet skills. Find a class that allows children to be silly and to make up their own dance moves -- for some reason, there seems to be more latitude for this when the teacher has a strong grounding in modern dance. If a child sticks with dance, there will be time aplenty for learning to plie, releve, turn out the feet from the hips, etcetera. Alexa

Pre_Ballet in Contra Costa County

I am trying to find a pre-ballet or creative movement class for my 4 year old daughter. I am considering the East Bay Center for Performing Arts in Richmond. One other place I am looking at is Kidz & Dance in Lafayette. The Berkeley area is just too far from us unless there is an outstanding recommendation to make me fight for parking there! Thanks in advance for helping a little girl out. Nilou

Ballet lessons for 5-year-old

My 5 year-old daughter would really like to take ballet lessons, and I'd love to hear about some places that offer them near Berkeley. I know about the classes at the Berkeley Y (they seem too big and informal?). Also, she's taken the creative dance class at Julia Morgan, and while there we've looked a bit into the classes through the Berkeley Ballet theatre (the program seem a bit intense, and with a long commitment?). Does anyone have any other ideas, or feedback on the two places I mentioned? Thanks for your help. Marilyn

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Although at your daughter's age it's not the worst thing, I would beware of what I like to call ''Dolly Dinkles School of Dance'', little neighborhood schools that usually feature a lot of photos and trophies and costumes. They tend to also feature bad training, which can damage bodies permanently, especially since lots of parents like to see their little darling in ''toe shoes'' and tutu. Putting young children on pointe too soon is extremely harmful. They bones need to be hard, and they should be around 12. Training that is too rigorous at a very early age can also defeat the purpose, driving children away from ballet because it isn't ''fun''. I often recommend tap class for young kids, because it strengthens the knee and ankle joints,increases foot articulation, gives instant feedback because of the percussive nature, and enhances their sense of rhythm, among other things. For that, I find Katie's on San Pablo on the El Cerrito/Richmond border quite adequate, although they are of the Dolly Dinkle's tendency, and really orient themselves toward shows. ''The Beat'' down on 9th St. off Dwight has great tap classes, but they are more serious. The Shawl-Anderson classes in Beginning Ballet with Reeny, and their Modern classes for kids are again, probably a great place to start. Feel free to ask me more... kim

Ballet School for a "promising" 6-year-old

Our 6 year old. daughter has been taking dance lessons at the local dance school for almost 4 years. Her ballet teacher tells us she has ''promise'', and it is somewhat obvious (even to a non-dancer) that she is advanced for her age. Her current dance school is good, but not great in any one area, and I am hoping to get recommendations for "real" ballet schools in the area. We live in Hercules, but would be willing to drive as far as Berkeley or Walnut Creek in the other direction.

Advice about Ballet for Young Children

I have a couple of comments about the dance inquiry from my own experience as a dancer (since age 3 and still taking class). Four years old is a little too young to be thinking about formal ballet instruction--any dance class at this age should emphasize connecting rhythm and movement and music, rather than standing at the barre and doing exercises. I recommend observing a class to see how the teacher connects with and inspires the kids. Be suspicious of any neigborhood dance studio (I'm not saying that Katie's is one of them!) that emphasizes getting girls up on pointe shoes: although every little female ballet student dreams of dancing on pointe, it's something that shouldn't be done unless the student has had several years of rigorous technique and has strong bones and muscles. Getting up on pointe before you are ready can really strain and distort the body (not that ballet doesn't already sort of do that). One really good studio, which is owned by one of the campus dance instructors, is Luna. It's located in the Glenview Terrace district of Oakland, on Park Blvd. between Highways 13 and 580 (east of 580/west of 13). I realize that's kind of a trek from Berkeley/El Cerrito, but it's easy to get to. I don't know whether Luna has its summer schedule out yet, but I know they would welcome observers.

Hope this helps.

You might try Luna, a studio in Oakland, for classes, or you can shop around for a class that looks like fun.

Dear Sarah and other parents who might be considering dance training for their young children,

I have studied dance (mostly ballet) since I was five, and have had many, many different teachers, and kinds of teachers, in those 30+ years. Some of my teachers have been remarkable, not only as dancers and instructors, but as bearers of a certain philosophy about the education of children. I would love to share an idea or two with anyone interested.

My experience as a parent tells me that young children learn best in a play-based, child-centered setting, and I think this applies to dance, too. The very best dance teachers I have had have stressed the importance of working from wherever the individual is, and doing so with utmost care and joy in the learning, rather than making every dancer look and perform alike.

Enough philosophy. Let me cut to the recommendation. Mary Lyons is a first-rate teacher of pre-ballet and ballet for young children. She also teaches tap. She teaches all afternoon on Fridays at the beautiful, relatively new Albany Community Center, on Marin at Masonic Ave. The classes are small and personal and, above all, fun and _appropriate_ for children from 3.5 to 5 and from 7 up. Mary also teaches elsewhere, and undoubtedly teaches every level.

Mary is sincere, careful, and attentive to her students. Her students receive a good, solid foundation in the essence of good ballet, without the pain of premature drills and barre exercises. The first thing she taught my daughter was how to present herself, with the port de bras (arm movements) of ballet, and say "I am a beautiful dancer. Yes, I am." She asks parents to suspend every ounce of criticism of their children's dance (appropriately!) and to applaud their every effort. My 5.5-year-old daughter has blossomed in this class.

The children are allowed to wear any color leotard/tights/ballet slippers at the Albany Community Center classes (unusual -- many schools prescribe a given color/style leotard for each level of instruction), and the classes are extremely reasonable in price ($34 Albany residents/$37 others for six weeks). A new session begins 4/26, and runs through 6/7. There are no ridiculous add-ons in terms of fees, so you know what you're paying for. I give this teacher and this setting my highest recommendation. The phone number at the Albany Community Center is 524-9283.

If you want to know more about this, or about dance instruction for kids in general, I'd be happy to field individual inquiries.

Best of luck to you and your kids

I loved the suggestions about good teachers. I, too took modern dance from 5- 11 years and the most rigorous russian classical ballet from 11-15, and then modern dance from 15-18 (and martial arts ever since).

I agree that ballet both builds character but also can build insecurity and reinforce bad gender stereotypes (anorexic behavior was rampant). I also think it's very important to closely watch male teachers around little girls until you're pretty sure you can trust them, and I don't know how you can establish that trust beyond the shadow of a doubt. Looking back: When I was five, my modern dance teacher, who my mother worshipped, picked me up fromhome to drive me to class one time and locked the car doors when we arrived and wouldn't unlock them unless he got a kiss. It may seem innocuous but I felt trapped in the car, and even then, to me the whole behavior was inappropriate. When I was 7 and had swimming lessons in the FLorida hotel pool where we were vacationing, the 16 year old instructor took me into the deep end and said he would let me go unless he got a kiss. When I was thirteen and pretty busty Vitale Fokine (Michel Fokine's grandson) would routinely feel up the girls when we leaned back in porte-de-bras. Believe me, he wasn't just adjusting our posture. Now, my other male teachers were just fine and the females, too. And I've never felt particularly harmed by these experiences. I mention them because they happened and my parents weren't aware of it at time time. When I told my mother about the car experience she kind of belittled me and came to Mr. Rivera's aid. So make sure you really listen to your daughters.

When all is said and done I think that some of my most educational and inspirational aspects of self came from after school enrichment. I definitely learned posture, comportment and self discipline from ballet, and the value of hard work. When my son is old enough. I'm gong to let him see if he likes tap dancing, gymnastics, swimming, martial arts, etc.

Adult Ballet Classes

I am getting back into ballet classes for the first time in over 4 years. Does anybody have a good recommendation for a particular class or instructor? More specifically, has anybody had good or bad experiences with the adult ballet classes at Berkeley Ballet Theater on College Ave and Derby? Which instructor did you have? I am looking for a class with a diverse range of body shapes, as I am not the size I used to be when I previously took ballet classes. Any suggestions on the topic are appreciated. Thanks. Leslie

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