Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-9

Quick Words:

Dance-Etc-Crane-Winters-Davies

Full Text:

NEW SCHOOL YEAR BRINGS WELCOME CHANGES

(with photo)

By Shannon Hicks

Dance, Etc., students are already back in school these days, getting back into

the rhythm of reading, writing and arithmetic. At the dance studio that is the

second home of some, located on Mt. Pleasant Hill Road in Newtown, students

are looking forward to a new fall season.

Some pleasant changes are awaiting the students, changes that have already

pleased co-owners Linda Davies, Anna Ferrarese, and the newest partner of the

dance/gymnastics company, Judy Crane. In addition to the announcement of Ms

Crane as the studio's newest partner, Dance, Etc. also wants Newtown and

surrounding towns to know about its exciting new program: a children's choir,

directed by Margaret Winters.

Officially, Judy Crane became the studio's newest partner last Friday, on

September 1. But after running the gymnastics end of the business for the past

nine years, first as an instructor at Dance Etc.'s former studio on South Main

Street, and then as director once the school moved to its present location,

co-partner Linda Davies agreed that it was time to hand part of the

partnership over to Judy.

"It takes effect in September," Mrs Davies says, "but we've been calling her

our partner for a while now. We wanted to make it official."

"I've always felt that part of this was mine, anyway," Ms Crane said recently.

"I think I've always treated the studio like it was part mine, between my

relationship with the kids and making sure everyone felt comfortable.

"What I will now be doing will be trying to get more students, but basically,

we really want the kids to enjoy themselves and have fun, even though they are

learning basic skills - balance, and so on - self-confidence. We really want

the kids to feel good about themselves first," Judy continued.

"This is a recreational gymnastics program, not a competitive one," Mrs Davies

interceded. "Actually, other than the word `partner,' not a whole lot is going

to change because like I said, she's always been a part of it."

For Linda and Anna, the advantage of having someone take care of the

gymnastics will allow them to concentrate on other studio offerings - the

dance side of the business. Judy will be in control of recruiting students and

teachers for the balance beam, uneven bars and spring floor classes, while

Linda and Anna will share the tap, jazz and hip-hop dance classes. The studio

also offers a omens' aerobics class. Already, Judy has brought a new

instructor - and possibly a second - to keep class sizes from becoming too

large, while allowing the current instructors to have enough "down time"

between classes.

"Judy has a great rapport with parents and students," Linda said. "That's why

we want her. Everybody loves her."

The children's choir is being added to the Dance, Etc. repertoire because the

partners feel children - anyone from elementary through high school ages -

love to sing, and the only places they really get to sing in organized groups

locally are in school or churches. Nothing is wrong with either of those

options, the partners stress, they just feel the need to offer additional

options for burgeoning talent. Choir isn't offered for Newtown students before

they enter the fourth grade; Dance Etc. is going to allow children who want to

sing to join the choir as young as age eight.

"I think there should be someplace [else] where kids can have a choir," says

Mrs Davies. "And that's why I started it."

Margaret Winters has been hired as the studio's choir director. A January

graduate from Western Connecticut State University, Margaret has already had

some long-term substitute positions in public schools, including Fairfield

Middle School. She has sung in choirs her entire life, including the excellent

choir directed by Kevin Isaacs at WestConn, and has just completed her first

year directing two Danbury Music Centre Young Peoples Choruses.

At Dance, Etc., the classically-trained vocalist plans on emphasizing two

things: fun, and the concept of a non-traditional choir. Rather than studying

"traditional composers" - Beethoven, Bach, Mozart - Margaret has been given

the go-ahead to teach her students things such as Disney, pop and Broadway.

"It's going to be a change for me," Margaret said last week. "But it's also

going to be a lot of fun."

However, while Margaret Winters will be stressing music that is geared toward

a younger singer, her teachings are not necessarily going to be just fun and

games. Her choir members are going to learn a lot more than just the words to

their songs.

"I don't like to just hand them the music and have a singalong," she

explained. "What I mean by that is, just handing them the music and they don't

understand at all what's happening on the page. It's just words to them at

that point. We may as well type up words, and hand them words.

"You need to know what those `little black dots' on the page mean," the

instructor believes. "Do I expect a third grader to understand fully, and be

able to by my playing one note, be able to sight sing the rest of the piece?

Of course not.

"But I am saying they need to begin to realize that if the note is staying the

same, their voice will stay the same; if it's ascending, their voice should be

going up. They need to start having a sense of what the notes mean, what the

actual music means, because that's sometimes where choirs can fall short," she

continued. Margaret wants choir members to get started on reading and

understanding music so they can have a sense of understanding what's going on

around them, while she also acknowledges the fact there are some very

well-known musicians who can present music simply by sight.

"We have the opportunity here, because we have quite a bit of time [three

months per session], which is often the problem: there isn't always the time

for learning the music, on top of preparing for a performance," Margaret said.

"I think that's very important."

Classes will begin in October, with fall and winter sessions planned. Singers

ages 8 through 17 are invited to sign up, and depending on the response the

studio receives, there may be two separate choirs. There will be performances

by the choirs, one in January and a second in June, to coincide with the

studio's annual recital.

Dance, Etc. is at 117 Mt. Pleasant Road in Newtown. For details on any of the

programs the school offers, as well as the brand new children's choir program

starting up this fall, the studio may be reached by calling 426-8717.