It’s Time to Dance!
Linda Lavender School of Dance Prepares for Another Exciting Year of Dance
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OU KNOW THE COMMERCIAL THAT TALKS ABOUT HOW some of the best things started in a garage, like Apple Computer and The Ramones? Well add to that list Linda Lavender School of Dance. Fifty-four years ago, northeast Louisiana’s venerable powerhouse of a dance studio had its humble beginnings in what studio owner Linda Ford calls her “mother’s carport.” The year was 1960, and northeast Louisiana had grown up in the new age of television watching little Linda Lavender dance with her friends on KNOE-TV 8’s “Happiness Exchange.” Already a seasoned performer at the age of 18, Linda Lavender, who married her high school sweetheart Joe Ford shortly after graduation, began teaching a few students the art of dance she was so well-known for. Fast forward to 2014. Today, the Linda Lavender School of Dance has grown to include state-of-the-art studios located in Monroe and West Monroe. Each of the school’s four studios features sprung floors to protect dancers. The staff is comprised of Linda Ford, her daughter Linda Lou Bourland, Gretchen Jones, Michelle Harvey, Leaia Alsup, Mallory Aulds Meredith, Meredith Barnes Pilcher, Marisa Young, Wendy Waller and Haley Garrett with a combined 181 years of teaching experience! It’s Time to Dance! Says Linda Lou Bourland, “We feel very strongly about the benefits of dance for preschool aged children.” Proper dance training does many wonderful things for your child. These include the benefits of sound physical development, good posture, poise and grace, as well as the more intangible but all-important mental factors, such as overcoming shyness, self consciousness and over aggressiveness. Dancing is not only physically stimulating, it creates an interest in all the arts thus opening up to the child the vast, wonderful world of culture. Dancing is hard work. It is concentration and coordination; but above all----dancing is fun – a constructive fun that creates a quality almost otherwise unobtainable for both you and your child. The Linda Lavender School of Dance Curriculum includes: • Pre-School Dance (Ages 3-5): A one-hour combination class in ballet, tap and tumbling. This class introduces dance techniques, basic stretches, coordination, movement, development, classroom procedures, confidence and self-expression in a fun and nurturing environment.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 115 WWW.BAYOULIFEMAG.COM | AUGUST 2014
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