BUENA PARK : Giving It a Whirl at a Tender Age

Dancers at Bailey’s Dance Studios learn discipline, confidence and poise in addition to the basics of ballet and tap.

Denise M. Morgan, owner and director, says it’s not necessarily true that putting children in dance studios will make them great dancers. But dance studios help them develop good learning attitudes and “all these positive attributes,” she said.

Morgan, whose dance studios are in Buena Park, Fountain Valley, Placentia and Huntington Beach, is one of the few places that will take 2-year-old dancers.

“I remember when my daughter was 2 and there weren’t any studios” that would accept her. “It was very frustrating,” said Morgan, whose 7-year-old daughter, Shantal, has earned national awards in tap.

Morgan said the studio accepts the toddlers because they are capable of learning the skills, plus they get a head start on being creative and gaining a positive experience with dance.

“By the time they’re 4 years old, they’ve already learned a great deal of French words that go along with the ballet movements they’re learning,” said Morgan. “Many of them are perfect for this kind of experience, so that’s why we offer it.”

Dance teacher Anne Bowling, 25, a ballerina who started at age 4, said age isn’t a factor in teaching children.

“Why I teach young children is because I believe they can learn--some people say when they’re too young, they’re copying you,” Bowling said. “But it’s not just imitation, they’re learning.”

Parent Ruthanne Greenwood said her 2-year-old daughter, Alison, isn’t too young to dance.

“There aren’t many places that will take 2-year-olds. She loves it. She loves going to dance classes,” said Greenwood of Huntington Beach, whose 6-year-old daughter, Lisa, also started dancing at 2 1/2.

Offering classes to young children is also extra work, Morgan said. It takes plenty of patience and tolerance.

But along with learning coordination, movements and endurance, children also learn proper studio conduct such as taking turns, waiting quietly and patiently and working as a team, Morgan said.

“What I like most of all is the structure,” Greenwood said, because her daughter learns to follow directions and to pay attention.

To make the learning fun and exciting, classes for the young dancers include a combination of ballet, tap and tumbling.

“This way you keep their attention span,” Bowling said, adding that the one-hour class is divided among the different dance forms. “It’s something new” every 20 minutes “and they don’t think of how tired they are when they do another skill.”

Carolsue Crosby said her 6-year-old granddaughter, Jennifer Matilla of Fountain Valley, who started dancing at age 2 1/2, is hooked on dancing.

“I can’t keep her out of the studio,” said Crosby of Riverside. “I see the confidence she’s got from this.”

Annette Bray’s two daughters, Christina, 4, and Elizabeth, 6, are both enrolled in dance classes.

“Because they like to dance, it was something to funnel their energy into,” said Bray, who lives in Stanton. “They’ve made friends, and it’s introduced them to a new world--the world of dance.”