By Brittany Drysdale
LOTS of little girls and boys dream of becoming ballerinas when they’re older. From pirouettes to plies, ballet is a wonderful way for kids to stay active and get creative. This school holidays, local children had the opportunity to participate in workshops at the Shepparton Library, run by the Australian Ballet Education and Outreach team.
Designed to be accessible to all children regardless of learning styles or physical abilities, kids from all ages had the unique opportunity to explore The Story of Pomi and Gobba through dance workshops involving warmups, storytelling, creative games, dance exercises and learning the tools to make a dance.
The Story of Pomi and Gobba follows the tale of two frogs who don’t feel like they fit in. They become friends and put their strengths to good use to escape a wild storm.
Senior dance educator Elena Salerno has been with the Australian Ballet Education and Outreach team for two years, taking people of all ages through the creative workshops.
“I like to say ballet is one of the bases of all dance techniques, even though it’s just one style. It creates discipline, it creates a realm for creativity, and a realm for learning about our bodies and working it in a way that you usually wouldn’t think you could,” said Elena.
Describing the dance form as a multifaceted activity with huge lifelong benefits, Elena says there is a lot more to ballet than just dancing.
“Kids are able to use dance as an overarching umbrella to allow them to be creative, create friends, and create a community. The dance community is such a tight-knit community where you can create life-long friendships.
“It’s those continual connections that we make with each other that just bring the arts world to bloom.”
