Tiny Dancers: Ridgefield School Offers Ballet for the Very Young

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Each year, the Ridgefield School of Dance produces two shows which have become must-sees for local arts patrons. Their "Nutcracker" traditionally signals the start of the Christmas season in Ridgefield, and their summer show is typically a full-length ballet presented along with a jazz piece. Both productions feature immensely talented, and often terribly young, casts. Where are these kids coming from?

In many instances, the dancers are rising up through RSOD’s own farm team system. The school’s Summer Sprites program is tailored for dancers between the ages of two-and-a-half and seven, and usually is the first time any of the young people ever don ballet slippers or tights. The youngest group gets an introduction to ballet through creative movement, storytelling and improvising with colorful props while learning basic positions and etiquette. The older cohort learns basic ballet positions and has the opportunity to choreograph their own dances.

Obviously there won’t be much Fosse-twitching or grand jeté-ing going on in the under-eight set, so what exactly does choreography for toddlers look like?

"I do a lot with the use of scarves, wands, musical instruments. Getting them to move their bodies by telling stories, by making shapes, experiencing different kinds of music," says Irene Zimmerman, who runs the Sprites dance program for younger children at RSOD. "I allow them to be their own choreographers and their own storytellers."

"Miss Irene," as she is known by her diminutive charges, has trained in New York at the Neubert Ballet Institute, the International Dance School and Ballet Arts at Carnegie Hall, Steps, and Broadway Dance Center. She has also studied with Stephan Hoff, Sandra Balesrtacci, Lisa Danias, Primavera Boman, David Howard, George Tomal, Michele Assof, and Susie Taylor.

Zimmerman advocates dance as a treatment for most of what ails modern youth, whether or not their parents foresee an arts career in their child's future. She also cites dance as an antidote for children’s growing addiction to devices and technology, improving the flexibility, coordination, balance, stamina, posture and muscle tone that screen time erodes.

Zimmerman’s own performance credits include dancing New York City Opera Ballet, New Jersey Ballet ("The Nutcracker"), and Dig-Pointe Ballet Company. She has toured extensively and appeared in "The Music Man," "My Fair Lady," "Oklahoma!," "Annie," "Little Shop of Horrors," and "West Side Story." In addition to her teaching, Zimmerman has choreographed and directed local musical theater productions.

"I believe that children who study dance learn perseverance, and they learn to be self-motivated," Zimmerman said. "Dance in itself, whether you are starting at three or a later age, is extremely repetitive, so it is through that repetition and rehearsal that children improve their own mental dexterity. So they are learning to absorb information and hold onto that information."

RSOD’s Sprites program is offered in two sessions, Tuesdays to Thursdays, August 6-8 and 13-15. Summer Sprites (ages 3-4, boys and girls) will meet 9:15 to 10:30 a.m., while Senior Sprites (ages 5-6) will meet 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The curtain goes up for the school's summer show this weekend. RSOD will present "Alice in Wonderland," along with the third act of the "Sleeping Beauty" ballet and "High Gear," a presentation of the school's Jazz Department, on Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16. See the RSOD website for more information.