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.
Following the third grade DANCE POWER PROGRAM, some students are specially selected to receive scholarships to study dance at Princeton Ballet School. The scholarship is offered during the fourth grade year and continues through high school. Such an opportunity grants these students exposure to ballet and other forms of dance, but also gives its participants the opportunity to continue more serious dance training if he or she demonstrates a love and interest for dance.
I participated in the DANCE POWER program in third grade and was one of the lucky students selected as a DANCE POWER Scholar!

I had no idea I would love dance as much as I did.  I remember our "Waiting in the Wings" performance so clearly.  It was my first time on stage.  My school danced to Little Richard’s song, “Tutti Frutti”, and I can still accurately remember most of the choreography. It meant so much to me and my classmates who were all on the stage at the State Theatre performing with the biggest grins on our faces, while our friends and family cheered us on.

Being a part of Princeton Ballet SchooI over the last 8 years has also given me such great memories.  I remember my first ballet teacher teaching the class the proper counts for circular port de bras. I can still recall every single one of the piano teachers that have ever played for any of my classes. I still have the "Time Dwarfs" dance and music from Cinderella, one of the Spring School shows, memorized. I remember my first pointe shoe fitting and class pictures.  One year, my teacher wanted me to pose in an attitude derrière position.  At that age and level (Student 3), I was not able to balance for more than a second in that position, so my teacher would hold my hand and, at the last second before the picture was taken, she would run out of the picture. I could go on forever with the awesome memories DANCE POWER has given me, so I better stop there.

DANCE POWER has opened so many doors for me. It gave me the chance to discover my passion for ballet, and the opportunity to meet with other DANCE POWER scholars and make friends that I will never forget. DANCE POWER connected me with amazing teachers, the Princeton Ballet School community, and three different locations of dancing spaces that feel like home to me.  I would not have been exposed to dance, and I would not have discovered my love of dance at that age, had DANCE POWER not been a part of my life. I had amazing teachers that not only pushed me even harder every class, once they saw my potential, but they also taught dance in a way that made it so much fun!

More than anything, though, ballet has come to be so much more than a hobby. It has given me a healthier lifestyle, allowed me to grow in maturity and learn that hard work pays off, given me the opportunity to express myself through the art of movement.  I am inspired to want to incorporate dance into the rest of my life. I am exceptionally honored to have been in the DANCE POWER program.