Stewart,TrancenDance

For my service project i volunteered by assistant teaching a break dancing class at my dance studio in Oak Park. Every Wednesday i work for an hour teaching the kids various break dancing moves, and it is the most rewarding thing. The kids ranged from 7 to 13, since the kids are older it made it easier in teaching them. I warm them up in the begging of class and correct them on technique for the duration of class. Since this post is from the first few sessions of working with them its hard to tell how many of them are talented break dancers. There are about 7 kids in the class with an assortment of races. There is one white kid named Zach, 2 Puertorican cousins names Yamoni and Angel, one Mideastern named Simon, the cutest Hispanic girl named Eli, and my favorite the only black girl Dreamia. Iv known Dreamia and Eli for a little while from previous dance classes i have assisted. Compared to the other kids who this is my first time meeting.

This is now my third time teaching them and already they have grow since the fist class. I am starting to get to know them on more a personal level so i can determine their strengths and weaknesses. Today i did most of the teaching since the break dance teacher is new at teaching and cant exactly choreograph. The teacher is a freestyle battler so is new to the more organized dance world. The kids were tired today so it wasn't a very productive day. Even though we dint do much it still feels good to know your helping kids out in something they love. Like the one boy Simon, id say he is Micheal Jackson's biggest fan and hes only 8. So when he asks me to teach him some moves that Micheal always did like a quick triple turn its nice to be able to do just that. Help show him what his biggest motivation could always do.

All the kids dance styles are very different so its challenging sometimes to help each one of them out. Especially Dreamia who is my favorite. She calls me her big sister and i call her my little sister, its nice to see the smile on her face when i say that. Her mom is sort of strange so every time i can be there for her i try to do my best. That's another major reason i love helping the kids out,even if its only through dance. Because dance transfers into so much more, like patience, responsibility, and hard work. Most importantly physical activity and being in shape at a young age can be great for your health. Today we were starting to prepare for there recital. Which is a big thing in my dance company. Its when every signal dancer gets to show off there dance they have been working on for the past couple months. The kids learn roughly a 2 minute dance which they preform for their parents in a few months. They were very exited to start learning the piece which i know will look great in a few months.

Today the teacher was a no-show so my friend Sebastien helped me teach the class. Hes amazing with the kids and at break dancing. The kids really look up to him especially the male students i have in the class. Today we were just going over the dance an perfecting some of the moves. We were also trying to run the dance over and over again to make sure they rememeber it. Since there only 8ish.

Its been a few weeks since the last post and the dance looks great. The kids have all really come far from just the first class. None of them are as self councious a they used to be which is a great thing! You can tell they all really enjoy the dance and thats the best thing i could see. It feels good knowing that i helped them overcome a whole dance at such a young age. Its also nice when you can make a lasting impact on them even if its only one person. Like Dreamia who still calls me her big sister.