Bernard Brown Park turned its outdoor recreational space into a high energy dance floor for children. KerboomKidz returned to the Town of Hempstead’s summer children’s shows on Aug. 2
KerboomKidz went on “park tours” to bring movement and mental health programs with instructors to communities in Long Island throughout the summer, including Uniondale. Children as young as 2-years-old participated in the dance session.
Instructors Bridget Cunningham and Max Ginsburg worked with children of different ages and experience levels, using simple movements while leaving room for students to freestyle and express themselves.
Cunningham, has been part of the program for two summers and expressed her love to teach children how to dance. The overall goal is not to just teach children choreography but to give a comfortable space to explore dance moves.
“We really try to frame our sessions so where it’s manageable and attainable for like all kids for like wherever they may be in their dance expertise,” she said. “We do simple movements and then as they get older we make it a little more difficult or modify it.”
For some of the youngest children in Uniondale, the experience may be their first introduction to organize dance. .
“I think it’s cool that we’re the first or potentially the first experience into dance for them,” Cunningham said. “That can just be kind of nerve-wracking but at the same time and inspiring because this is the first time you might be introduced to this kind of part of life as a two-year-old.”
Instructors try to make the sessions enjoyable rather than intimidating, particularly for children who may be hesitant to dance in front of others.
“We never want to push them to do anything they don’t feel comfortable with,” she said.
Instead, instructors give children the opportunity to participate at their own pace. Some shy students later approach the instructors after a session to ask questions or express interest in taking dance classes.
For Bridget, the value of the program extends beyond learning choreography. She said children sometimes remember instructors long after their sessions have ended, returning in subsequent years with keepsakes from previous visits.
“I think people underestimate the impact that is made on kids,” Cunningham said.
As summer programs wind down and the school year approaches, the performances gave children one final opportunity to share the dances they learned — and, for some, a first chance to see themselves as dancers.
