Flipping through the most recent issue of Princeton Alumni Weekly magazine, I came across a short feature on Simon Morrison that sparked my interest.

Like a lot of little girls, I fell in love with ballet when I saw my first performance of The Nutcracker. Mostly, I fell in love with all the attention Clara got. Immediately after the show I tugged on my mothers arm and asked to take ballet classes. For the first two years of lessons I mostly daydreamed I was dancing the role of Clara, imagining a growing Christmas tree and pretending to hold a small Nutcracker doll during barre. My teacher was not amused. Eventually though, I got to dance the role of Clara, and let me tell you, the attention you get is pretty awesome.

We humans learn by experience, they say, but it turns out, not surprisingly, that not all experiences are
equal, in terms of learning. The method by which we learn something has great bearing on how well-
integrated the new idea becomes into our brain and body. There was a fascinating article in the NY
Times over the weekend, about how a large number of the leaders in the computer industry are sending
their own children to Waldorf Schools, where they don’t connect with technology until well into high

This week, I am happy to reflect on ARB's DANCE POWER PROGRAM, an educational outreach program which gives third graders exposure to dance. Students in New Brunswick Public Schools every year participate in the program once a week during school hours and, at the end, perform at the “Waiting in the Wings” production (my class got to perform at the State Theatre in New Brunswick). The program builds confidence, shows students that dance is an art, and that it is a wonderful way to express their inner selves.