Dear Readers,
This month we want you to meet Elephant Ezra! He is so ecstatic to meet all of you. Like so many of our other characters, Ezra loves spending time with his family. He especially loves quality time with his Grandma where he gets snuggle on the sofa with her while she reads him special stories like Corduroy by Don Freeman. Is this one of your favorite books, too? In addition to reading Ezra also loves to dance! Whenever he hears music, he starts grooving and the biggest smile appears on his face. He and Lily Duckling often have play dates where she plays the piano and he dances to her tunes. Recognizing his love for dance, his parents have enrolled him in dance classes and he is loving every moment of it! Ezra is learning so many dance styles from ballet, hip hop, and tap as well as getting quality time with his friends. In addition to making new friendships his family is noticing so many positive effects from these classes. His agility, balance, and coordination are developing much quicker and he is sleeping better! Ezra has a lot of energy and his dance classes help him release it for better night’s sleep. You can imagine how happy his parents are J. His memorization skills are also improving with learning step sequences quickly and interacting with other children his self-confidence and creativity is growing through collaboration and teamwork. Most importantly he is radiating joy through the whole experience!
We have listed some links for online dance series that can be found on YouTube as well as dance programs in the NYC area for your reference that have been highly ranked!
As promised, please click here to download the coloring drawing of Ezra dancing. We left the music lines free so that you can draw in your favorite music notes. Ezra hopes to see you on the dance floor very soon!
Love Always,
Kristina Lucia xoxo
Kidz Bop
https://www.youtube.com/user/KidzBopKids/featured
This YouTube channel offers a wide range of videos that children can dance along to as well as some dance tutorials.
Go Noodle
https://www.youtube.com/user/GoNoodleGames/featured
This YouTube channel has a variety of online movement while also teaching children educational skills.
Dance Parent 101
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCtpXbqQ8aC14L71qVF_i0Sl-9Hc_gjz3
These videos provide more traditional structure in that the videos begin with a warm up and end with a cool down. In between children explore movement and play a game to incorporate what they learned!
Ballet 1/ Jazz 1
Dida NYC, 160 Studio, 160 Broadway, 200, New York, NY, 10038
The ballet program is specialized for children of 5-7years of age and introduces children to the classical structure of ballet. It is focused for beginner and intermediate levels.
The jazz program is specialized for children of 5-7 years of age and combines the styles of ballet, gym, and jazz into the class structure. The main goal is to build strength and musicality while having fun! This class is focused toward beginner students.
Little’s Hip Hop/ Tumbling Combo Class is also offered for children of 3-5 years of age that teaches floor gymnastics and tumbling skills to be combined with dance.
Steps (Upper West Side)
2121 Broadway, New York, NY
This program offers classes for children as young as 18 months and multiple skill levels. Children are able to learn all styles of dance from ballet, jazz, tap, and more!
Downtown Dance Factory (Tribeca)
291 Broadway, New York, NY
This program also offers classes for children as young as 18 months and multiple skill levels. Children are able to learn all styles of dance from classical ballet to street hip hop and breakdancing. Mommy and me classes are also offered!