YMCA adding Ballet & Tap intro program

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FORT MADISON - The Fort Madison Family YMCA is happy to announce a brand new program for our area youth. ‘Intro to Ballet & Tap’ is an hour-long combination class specifically designed to introduce girls and boys ages 3 years to 6 years old to the fundamentals of contemporary ballet and tap dance.

This new program is offered in 5 week sessions with the first session beginning Tuesday, November 12th. Classes will be held in the upstairs aerobics room at the Fort Madison Family YMCA. Parent Watch Week will be the very last class of each 5 week session where parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are invited to observe the class period and witness their Tiny Dancer’s improvement.
Intro to Ballet & Tap is the perfect way to introduce children to the art of dance. Classes are broken up into two divisions;

Tiny Dancer I – for boys and girls ages 3 and 4 years old, classes are held Tuesdays 4pm-5pm Tiny Dancer II – for boys and girls ages 5 and 6 years old, classes are held Thursdays 5pm-6pm
Each class will be divided into 30 minutes of beginner ballet and 30 minutes of beginner tap.
Beginner Ballet: Focuses on increasing body awareness, gross motor skills, and phrasing while giving the dancer’s imagination time to flourish through fun and creative instruction. Dancers will learn the fundamentals of basic ballet vocabulary, steps, and positions including weight changes and proper positioning of their feet and arms.
Beginner Tap: Focuses on the dancer’s development of balance, rhythm, style, and sound through creative movement as a group. Dancers will learn the fundamentals of basic tap dancing, body coordination, and working with fellow dancers as one.
Preferred dress code (not required): leotard, tights, ballet shoes, and tap shoes. Hair should be pulled back away from face and please avoid clothing that may distract your tiny dancer.

A meet and greet with instructor, Margaret Tillotson will be held on Monday, November 11th at 5:30pm in the preschool room at the Fort Madison Family YMCA. Parents will have the opportunity to receive FREE new or gently used leotards, tights, tap and ballet shoes, and skirts in various sizes for their registered Tiny Dancers to use for the duration of the session.

Registration Cost: $25/Member, $50/Non-Member – per 5 week session Registration Deadline: Monday prior to each 5 week session
Register at the Fort Madison Family YMCA during regular office hours.

Classes are limited to 6 Tiny Dancers per 5 week session. A waiting list will be available to those interested but unable to register by deadline.
Session #1:
Tiny Dancers I –
November 12th, 19th, 26th, December 3rd & 10th Tiny Dancers II –
November 14th, 21st, December 5th, 12th & 19th (no class on Thanksgiving) Session #2:
Tiny Dancers I –
January 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th & February 4th Tiny Dancers II –
January 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th & February 6th Meet Class Instructor Margaret Tillotson:

Margaret Tillotson, is a 19 year old student attending Southeastern Community College working toward getting her Associates of Arts degree, to continue into dance pedagogy education for children. She has been dancing for nine years and has taken classes in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, pointe, and musical theater. She has danced at Ignite Dance Center and continued her dance education at the University of Iowa’s Youth Ballet School in Iowa City, Iowa, along with lessons from Sarah Barragan through City Ballet in Iowa City, Iowa.


Margaret is excited to begin teaching Intro to Tap and Ballet classes for boys and girls ages 3 years to 6 years at the Ft. Madison Y.M.C.A.

ballet, fort madison, introduction, Pen City Current, program, YMCA

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