Kids can dance in summer

This summer Ohio Dance Theatre will present several workshops for youngsters.

They include Summer Dance Elementary Workshop for ages 6-9, June 15-July 8; a Youth Performance Workshop for ages 9-12 June 14-July 29; and Intermediate/Advanced Intensive Study and Performance Workshop, June 14-July 31.

Performances will take place at Warner Center in Oberlin and the ODT studios at 39 S. Main St. in the New Union Center for the Arts. Some students will be invited to participate in a performance of "Christmas in July" at the Lake Erie Crushers stadium in Avon.

At the Elementary Workshop students will be introduced to classical ballet and jazz training appropriate for the physical development of their bodies. Students will present an informal performance for friends and family at the end of the workshop.

Dancers enrolled in the Youth Performance Workshop and the Intermediate/Advanced Intensive Study and Performance Workshop will perform in Ohio Dance Theatre's production of "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" and "Peter & the Wolf."

Benjamin Britten's popular score from 1946, "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," aims to acquaint children with orchestral instruments through variations and a fugue on a theme by Henry Purcell as well as Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf."

All classes will be held at the New Union Center for the Arts (NUCA) studios, home of Ohio Dance Theatre's School and Company. The studios are equipped with high ceilings and sprung dance floors. For more information contact the ODT office at 774-6077. Visit the web site at www.ohiodancetheatre.org