Sorenson'ss Ranch School, a well-respected establishment for parents to take their troubled teens, has been in the business of helping and treating students for over 30 years, and now, with the brand-new art classes, everything has become more hands-on within the school. However, Sorenson'ss has had a new addition into it'ss curriculum; a variety of classes teaching students the formal arts of dance.
The intent when the class originated was for it to be a ballet class only, says the school'ss very own dance teacher. It soon became apparent that the kids have a wide range of interests
and the class would be more productive if more variety were introduced. Therefore, the class evolved into five units: ballet, lyrical ballet/jazz, jazz, hip-hop, and choreography.
The units blend into each other, and the students learn from a variety of teachers how each genre of dance has been different throughout history, and how it applies to their daily
studies. It'ss important to remember that any kind of physical activity within the classroom promotes self-health and taking care of yourself, which is an important lesson to learn when
these teens are usually coming in with behavioral or even drug problems.
However, the problems the students have before they walk in the door are the problems they are focusing on when they attend the classes. The dances classes are earlier in the morning, so
it can be hard to work with students when they are feeling under the weather. However, according to one of the teachers, this is a learning process. We do our dance class first thing in
the morning, and it has been a great way to start the day. There are a lot of behaviors that the kids are working on improving and dance seems to help. It shows them that you can let
something positive lighten your mood and just feel the joy of the moment. I have seen many rotten or gloomy moods turned around as class wore on and that seems to me a wonderful lesson
learned.
Please visit Sorenson'ss Ranch School online for more information at: www.sorensonranchschool.com