Dancing their little heads off

If you haven't noticed already, it’s really hot outside. It’s so hot that nobody wants to be outside. I can’t even ride my bike anymore without the constant fear that I’ll burst into flames.

The problem here is that kids should stay active throughout the summer so they don’t turn into mush at home on the couch. Summer day camps are a perfect idea for kids to stay active and interact with one another for the summer. Artown has put together weekly events to get kids learning in a fun way. They’ve created Discover the Arts for kids.

On Friday at Miguel Ribera Park inside the big gym dozens of adorable kids of all shapes, sizes, ages, and colors were brought together to learn to hip hop dance moves by 724, a dance group from the Reno Performing Arts center. This event was so cute I was dying. As I watched all the happy smiles and playful banter of the kids it made me want kids of my own so bad right now…almost. I have plenty of time for that, but until then I’ll adore other people’s kids.

724 is a group of 12-15 year olds that have been dancing together for two years and even won Sparks Idol this past July 4^th. This first hour the kids performed a few dance numbers that they choreographed themselves. The groups of kids watched in awe and burst into applause and chatted about what parts they liked the best. It may have been pretty difficult to teach an enormous group of rowdy and hyper kids some complicated dance moves but the outcome was pretty surprising.

The kids of 724, Dani DellaVella, Garrett Biselli, Ciera Biselli, Daniel Ward, Mikey DellaVella, Chris Henderson, Alyssa Ballard Reisch, and Aly Raymer all patiently split up into twos and took the kids into separate groups. Some were very eager to learn, including Justice Lawton, 8, who paid closed attention to the directions given by Daniel Ward and Chris Henderson.

Fiona McNeil, a busy mom of four, has come to 12 of the events put on by Discover the Atrts. “Last year the events were at Wingfield Park and it was so hot,” said McNeil. “This year it’s much better because of the air conditioning.”

After a few minutes of teaching the kids in separate groups the dance routine, it was time to perform it all together. This of course was a little more difficult when Cow-a-bunga the cow from Northern Nevada Dairyman arrived, but never the less the kids remembered a lot of the routine. Then it was time for freestyle. The kids totally had fun with this one dancing their little heads off. Seeing my camera made a few little girls want a picture, how could I say no to these faces? After it was all over Northern Nevada Dairyman provided each of the kids with some ice cream. What a sweet reward for getting their groove on with their bad selves.