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Youngsters Warm Up To Ballet

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Daniella Bennetti, 5, tries ballet at the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 24, 2008

TAMPA - Melissa Stafford sat on the floor of a ballet room at the Patel Conservatory, urging the 13 boys and girls, ages 3 to 5, to "sit up nice and tall, like proud kings and queens."

Madox Bown, 4, fidgeted in his T-shirt and shorts next to 5-year-old Joshua Moore. Julia Dean, 3, wore a berry-colored leotard and a pink tutu with sequins, mirroring the other girls in their purple, pink and black leotards and tights.

They were at the conservatory, part of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, on Saturday for a free Intro to Ballet class, one of several offered throughout the year. Official classes begin Monday.

The free classes, divided by age and skill, allow children from grades two through 12 who have previously studied ballet to test out the instruction the Orlando Ballet School offers at the conservatory. They also give parents the opportunity to enroll younger children who enjoy the sense of movement. The next free sessions will be in January.

"Eyes and ears open. That's how you learn to dance," said Stafford, 29, the campus principal for the Orlando Ballet School.

"You're not allowed to say, 'I can't.' You can say, 'Help,' or 'I need to practice.' But you can't say, 'I can't.' Because you'll learn."

Stafford started dancing at age 10. Not everyone will fall in love with dance like she did, she said, but they can still benefit by developing flexibility, core strength and correct posture. The youngsters who enjoyed Saturday's free session could enroll in "Dress Up and Dance," which focuses on posture, coordination and how to move as a group.

"Ballet teaches confidence, self-discipline ... thinking on your feet," Stafford said. "That's very good their whole life."

The petite pupils situated themselves on plastic dots in the center of a room with two walls of mirrors and mounted ballet barres. Stafford shooed away parents who clogged the doorway to observe. The instructor said she needed to close the door to shut out the soaring notes of an opera singer practicing in a nearby room.

With older students, Stafford talks about plies and releves. For this crowd, she said such things as "Crisscross applesauce" when wanting them to cross their legs.

"Let's get our peanut butter and jelly," she said, using her fingers to apply imaginary spread to her heels and sandwiching them together. The children followed suit, then mimicked Stafford in clutching their ankles.

"Take your nose to your toes," Stafford said, bending over. She began to count. "Let's stay down there till I say, 'Eight.'"

For half an hour, Stafford led the children through exercises. Older helpers like Joshua's sister, Teaghan, and Ashlyn Bolton, 11, whose 3-year-old sister, Emma, was in the class, followed along.

They stretched their arms out in front of them in circles, as if giving big hugs, and rocked back and forth on their bottoms. They opened their feet like books, as if hinged at the ankles. They crouched, bounced, jumped and galloped. Lastly, they followed the tempo of music that Stafford played, dancing slow with whispered shuffles of feet, or fast, scuffling around in circles.

Madox's mother, Kerry Travilla-Bown, 34, thought the free class was a good way to gauge his interest. "Dress Up and Dance," which meets once a week between now and May, costs $564 for the school year or $70.50 per month, according to a brochure.

"I figured, he gets to hang out with some girls," she said with a laugh, "burn off some energy and learn some posture. He loves to dance."

Travilla-Bown held her son's hand and twirled him around while speaking to a visitor. Asked what he liked best about the class, Madox said, "Spinning!"

Julia's mother, Natalie Dean, 33, a teacher at Bowman Academy in Tampa, also thought the free class was a good opportunity.

"She loves to dance. She'll just put on her ballet leotard and dance around the house," Dean said.

In addition to ballet, the conservatory offers classes in hip-hop for children. For adults, there are classes in hip-hop, modern dance, tap dance, ballroom dancing, belly dancing and flamenco dancing. For information, visit www.patelconservatory.org.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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