April’s Dance-N-Feet is adding a Peewee Competition Program for young dancers at its Canarsie studio location so younger students can learn new techniques and compete like the older girls. The dance school currently offers a competition team for children ages 9 and older.
“My goal is to expand the arts in the community so kids have more opportunities, are safe, and stay off the streets,” says April Scandariato, who started April’s Dance-N-Feet in 1995.
Students have to be hand-selected or express interest to be considered for the new program. They also have to do one or two weeks of a trial run in the actual class. In the program, kids will be together for about 6-8 hours every week. Competition teams have about 10-15 kids and regular classes range from about 8-20 students, with multiple teachers depending on the class.
April’s Dance-N-Feet serves dancers ages 2 and older, including boys, girls, and adults. It offers a wide variety of dance classes in styles such as tap, ballet, hip-hop, jazz, Caribbean, gymnastics, lyrical, African, and majorette.
“I have such a diverse staff and everybody is very well trained. All the teachers have their own style, so the student has a lot to choose from as far as styles and different structures of dance,” Scandariato says.
April’s Dance-N-Feet has four Brooklyn studios and more than 750 students.
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Main image: In late September April’s Dance-N-Feet in Canarsie will be adding a competition program for dancers ages 5-9.
Courtesy April’s Dance-N-Feet
