The Lake Central Centralettes hosted their annual dance clinic on Jan. 29. While still making time for laughs and smiles, the clinic gave the younger girls a chance to be a Centralette for a day.
“The Centralettes have always been tremendous ambassadors of goodwill for LCHS. This goodwill exists not only because of our achievements both locally and nationally, but because selflessness and mentoring are as important today as they were 20 years ago. 2017 marks the 22nd year we have hosted this clinic for our community. Many of our Centralettes are former Junior Centralettes. They understand their role in mentoring young dancers who may someday stand in their proverbial dance shoes. It is because of this mutual benefit, the connection we have with our community continues to flow both ways,” Kevin Mathis, Dance Director, said.
This clinic provides benefits not only for interested Centralettes, but current Centralettes as well.
“The purpose of our clinic is to make dance accessible in a safe and friendly environment. It introduces the community to our team while allowing our dancers the opportunity to reconnect with the community of a personal level. It reminds our dancers why they choose dance as their sport,” Mathis said.
There were three age groups at the clinic: Preschool/Kindergarten-third grade, 4th-6th grade and 7th-8th grade. The younger girls were able to show off their hard work during the Parent Show at the end of their session.
“The kids were so excited to show their parents and vice versa. I think the kids really picked up the dance well, so we impressed a lot of people,” Maisie Westerfield (9) said.
There were a few challenges getting the girls to break out of their shells, but at the end of the session, the smiles on their faces proved that the hard work paid off.
“It was difficult getting them to be quiet and listen since they are little [and] they love to laugh and talk to us and the other girls. My favorite part about today was bringing the shy ones out of their shells and seeing them have fun and also hearing how they wanted to become dancers like us. They really are the future of the Centralettes,” Hannah Hopkins (11) said.
