Welcome Little Leapers!

It’s been a fascinating year if you’ve been following the Little Leapers.  What started off as a single dance class held at the YMCA has now turned into one of the greatest new dance curriculums in the area. With Fairy Tale Ballet classes held in Blacksburg, Christiansburg and now… Roanoke, they are surely making an impact on our community. 

If you enter a typical dance class in Roanoke you might see Ballet Barres, tight buns, and teachers wagging their fingers for students to straighten their knees. For many young dancers the wonderful fantasy of starting Ballet is quickly replaced by discipline and uncomfortable positions. While dance can be quite hard work and requires much dedication and yes-discipline, Heather Leeper, Director of Little Leapers has a different approach.

“After seeing many studio’s teach children’s ballet classes with varying curriculum, I was always saddened when I would hear that students decided they ‘hated’ dance, at age 5. ‘Hated?” I would think. How could you hate something so theatrical, filled with tiaras and tutus at age 5? As a young dancer begins to advance, sure, dance can be quite trying and every dancer will see tears at some point in their training. But not at age 5.”

Heather’s love for ballet and dance started at a very young age, and was even performing with New York City Ballet as a young girl. Despite her disciplined level of ballet training, she believes that the first important thing for any young dancer to have is a solid foundation of love for dance. It was this foundation that sparked the Little Leapers program. “I wanted to bring back the magic and fantasy of ballet to class. To let children embrace the spirit of dance that most have before they ever even put on their first pair of ballet shoes.”

In a Little Leapers class, students learn fun stretches in a playful way - picking flowers, drawing pictures and playing games. They learn all of their proper french pre-ballet terms while fantasying of drawing, creating, or acting out scenarios, such as going to the beach and drawing in the sand with their pointed toes. They also learn how ballet is a way to communicate without using words; and so they learn things like, how and what it means when a dancer curtseys (to say hello/goodbye/thank you), or how to show emotions or tell a story with simply using their body.

One parent said, “I’ve taken [her] to the different dance classes around town, and she simply didn’t have the attention span for any of them. For the first time, she came home begging to go back to ballet class. The best part is, I was able to watch the class from the window - so I felt like I was enjoying the class with her.”

One of the most popular parts of the class, is story time. Each week the students sit as the teacher reads a fairytale. As the teacher is animated and interacts with the children, they are mesmerized by these treasured classic stories. They then get dressed up in lovely tutus and costumes and follow the teacher as they reenact the story to beautiful and theatrical music. Using their newly learned dance moves, and fun props children are quickly whisked away to a world of magic and play all while learning.

Little Leapers is opening their first classes in Roanoke at Aquatic Adventures (Electric Rd.) and the Shining Star Family Center (Williamson Rd.) this week!   In addition, they will be opening their first brick and mortar studio in Blacksburg this month. Their studio (soon to come to Roanoke) offers Ballet, Musical Theatre (jazz & tap), Hip hop, Cheerleading, Birthday Parties and a Tutu cute Boutique!

 “It is our goal to provide a safe and inviting atmosphere for all students to express themselves through the artistry and technique of dance. Each dance class incorporates structured class curriculum fostering creativity and individuality in a fun learning environment.”

If you would like to check out a Little Leapers class visit www.thelittleleapers.com or email info@thelittleleapers.com to schedule your free trial. Tuition is $135 for the Winter 2013 Session.