ArtsReach Classes Lift Kids' Confidence

Photo above: Instructor Harlina Churn-Diallo and Trey Hayden, 7, play the drums.

As reported by Sheryl Edelen in the Courier-Journal on 12/2/2009...

When Highview resident Njoki Watene enrolled her daughter Wambui in ArtsReach Dance Studio classes at the West Chestnut Street YMCA a few years ago, she wasn't sure what would come of it.

After all, her daughter was 7 and hadn't really expressed any desire to dance, much less work with a professional teacher.

But after three years of free lessons offered through the program, which The Kentucky Center for the Arts sponsors, Wambui says she wants to be a professional dancer, and her mother says her daughter has blossomed into gifted dancer.

“I love to dance. … It expresses feelings,” said Wambui, who is 10 and a fifth-grader at Louisville Collegiate School. “If I'm sad, I can dance to a sad song, and if I'm happy, I can dance to happy songs. It's fun.”

Now in its ninth year, the ArtsReach Dance Studio Program is designed to form lasting connections between the local arts scene and some of the city's neediest communities by giving children access to professional artists who teach several styles, including tap, ballet, liturgical and African dance.

More than 100 children participate in the classes, which are offered September through May.

The dance studio program is part of Louisville's overall ArtsReach effort, which was established in 1989 and also includes a Suzuki violin program. Program director Julia Youngblood said the goal is to provide meaningful instruction from seasoned professionals.

“This is not arts and crafts, this is fine arts,” she said.

Read more and see photos on the Courier-Journal site: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20091202/ZONE07/912020325/-1/ZONE07/ArtsReach+classes+lift+kids++confidence