Dance Ability

Molly with Mallory and Jade

Molly finished her tap class on Sunday.  It was a special 10 week class offered by the same instructors who teach Molly and Maggie their regular special needs dance class that runs all year (it’s technically a class offered to all abilities, but everything about it is special).  I love watching Molly come alive in these classes.  Getting her to do any kind of physical activity is often difficult, because she gets tired easily, so usually when she signs up to do an extra-curricular activity it will be something art or science related.  Because her brain is never tired.  But when Maggie began taking dance classes for kids with special needs in the summer, Molly was eager to try it out too.  The teachers were very accommodating and allowed her to try one class to see if she liked it.

It started out at Maggie, with Grace going in to help her feel comfortable.  Then Molly wanted in on it.

 One class and she was hooked!

We enrolled both girls for the September to June classes, and the teachers mentioned the possibility of introducing a tap class if there was enough interest.  As tempted as I was to hide this information from Molly (OMG the NOISE is all I could hear in my brain just at the thought of tap shoes on my ceramic tiles), there wasn’t a chance – Molly spotted the poster, and she reads every sign she sees.  Her face lit up.  I immediately fired up the Home Depot site and searched for ear protection.

The fabulous borrowed shoes that were not allowed to leave the studio – I didn’t think it was possible to love these teachers more!!

Her class was small.  3 kids including her, with 2 teachers and sometimes a volunteer.  And the teachers are sisters who are not only dance teachers, but also Occupational Therapists!  Total score for us!  The program that these young ladies (gah when did I get so old) run is incredible, and we are so happy to have found Dance Ability.  I searched for years for something like this, asking every professional I came in contact with.

The kids get one-on-one support, as each child is assigned a volunteer.  Each child is in there with their own unique set of challenges, and Mallory and Jade manage to work with the unique needs, rather than fighting the challenges or forgetting about them altogether, which would result in a frustrated student.

Molly picked up the tap steps really quickly, which is not easy for anyone, let alone a child with Developmental Coordination Disorder.  The smile on her face alone was worth the long drive, but to have her teachers say that she has a special talent in tap, picking up the steps far more quickly than they expected, and that she should stick with it, was an absolute confidence booster!

So excited that the first day of tap had finally arrived!

Although the tap class is over, the regular class is still in full swing as they prepare to be in the recital in June.  I may need to go for shots of botox to my tear ducts that week so that I can actually see the stage through the flood that will be trying to escape my eyes.