Our Mission is to teach inspirational music and dance classes that help children discover their potential by motivating them to believe in themselves, to value artistic expression, and to develop a personal standard of excellence.
There is a lot more to it than this and you really have to see a performance to understand the results. We were encouraged to attend one of these performances a couple years ago and immediately became one of our favorite events. The staff from CTB goes to local schools and gathers kids of a certain age who are interested in participating in the program. It does not matter if the school is a one room classroom or a larger school in a bigger town. The kids are assembled and during the course of a few weeks they are taught some basic dance moves, choreography and then they join other kids from other schools for a large performance. The kids perform identifying their school associating by wearing a colored T-shirt.
This is NOT some polished dance recital. Some kids can really move and dance, some kids really can't but that's not the point of the program. These kids are out there giving it all they have with only a T-shirt, a smile on their faces, the skills they have and the coaching they have received in the previous weeks. The smiles and energy are contagious and the kids walk away from the experience for the better and so do those in attendance.
Alex watched from the sidelines the past two years until she was welcome to attend a dance class last spring given by the fantastic "Maestra de Dance", Colleen and her staff. When CTB came around again this year, Escuela Del Mundo did not have a group of their own so based on Alex' participation last year in Colleen's class she was welcome to join a group called "Grupo de Excellencia" represented in orange. She was the youngest participant in her group. This is where Ashley and I play the proud(and amazed parents) since Alex has not really had any dance experience. She does not even turn on music and dance in front of the mirror or see dance on television. How she understands movement, beat, rhythm, coordination and stay cool on stage performing is beyond us. Ashley danced when she was young and I've always been active and fairly athletic. I guess some of those genes have passed down to our daughter in some way because it has been amazing to watch her just go do it and do it well. She loves it and that's what matters. You will see in the video Alex' "wardrobe malfunction" when someone stepped on her shoe and she tries like crazy to keep going and pull her shoe back on. Got to love live performances. Can't wait until next year.
There is more to the performance than this but these videos highlight most of the action that Alex' group was in. If you are not into the Spanish introductions, you can forward past the first two minutes or so of Part 1. Perhaps videos only grandparents will love but fun to say the least.
Part 1
...and part 2
...and part 3
...and part 4
...and part 4
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