Segerstrom Center starts new round of dance and music classes for kids with disabilities
After wrapping up its first session of new dance and music courses for children with disabilities, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts has opened enrollment for two more sessions this spring.
For six weeks recently, the art center in Costa Mesa held one class a week for 30 students, ages 4 to 12, in the first session. The kids were split into three groups to make class sizes small.
“This is a brand-new program that’s part of an evolution of the center where we complement world-class performance programs with a significantly expanded commitment to engage every community in Orange County,” said Segerstrom Center President Terry Dwyer.
The second session, which began Monday and runs through May 13, offers classes for six groups of students. Enrollment is ongoing.
Enrollment for the third session, which runs May 15 through June 26 for possibly seven groups, will end May 12.
The classes are meant to help children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other conditions improve their coordination and confidence.
Students without disabilities also joined courses in the first session and are welcome for other classes.
“Being fully inclusive, there’s a full spectrum of disabilities but also kids who are developmentally typical,” said Susan Marie Kendall, director of community engagement at Segerstrom. It helps expose children “to the fact that they’re not all the same but everyone can come to class and have a good time,” she said.
Students are led by professional musicians, dance instructors and physical and occupational therapists.
The first session included exercises using dance movements and musical sounds as methods to understand emotions and social interactions.
In one lesson about personal space, students and instructors pretended they were underwater in their own bubbles and had to move about without “popping” one another’s bubbles.
“We do have some kids where being in a dance space can be overwhelming in the beginning,” Kendall said. “But then they go from being overwhelmed to arriving at class and actively participating. They look forward to class, and that’s huge to me.”
The first session’s final class last week had students explore emotions by looking at pictures of happy, sad or angry faces while a pianist played.
An angry face would signal louder chords on the piano, while a happy face prompted lighter, bouncier notes.
“[My niece] will always tell me all about class and what kind of things she learned,” Costa Mesa resident Tracy Norman said. “Her balance is getting a lot better. She’ll say ‘Look at me, I can stand longer on one foot’ and she’ll have that confidence.”
While students are in class, Segerstrom offers parents and guardians a waiting area near the studio.
Irvine resident Tamer Ince said such classes for children with disabilities are hard to come by.
“There needs to be instructors with experience with the kids, and here I think they’ve done well,” Ince said. “When I tell [my son] it’s time to go to dance class, he’s ready to go to the car.”
Each six-week series of classes costs $120 per student. Financial scholarships are available based on need.
For more information, visit scfta.org/classes.
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
