Making mighty strides in dance
It was a pleasant surprise meeting up with a dance troupe of what we imagined to be 20-somethings, and instead encountered a small, but extremely eclectic bunch of 5-10 year olds. Tiny tots, they may be, but ‘tiny’ their dancing talents are certainly not. Meet the young faces behind ‘Mighty Steps’, a dance academy that was formed about a year ago by Jeremiah James.
Jeremiah James
Jeremiah is a blast of fresh air and at the age of 24 he is absolutely committed to his craf and is delightfully enthusiastic about what he does.
“To be honest, I had imagined Mighty Steps to be a youth dance troupe,” he admits. “But then I had some young kids who signed up and I realized that this was where my talents lay.” Teaching young children is an absolute joy, he smiles, saying that he wouldn’t have had it any other way now.
‘Mighty Steps’ is comprises 75 dancers aged five upwards. Sixty-five of those 70 are under the age of fifteen. The youngest of them make up for what they might lack in size with some fierce attitude. ‘Finally,’ one sighs theatrically to his friend. ‘We’re going to be in the papers!’ They are thrilled with the photo shoot that follows, striking ‘gangsta’ poses and balancing on their heads repeatedly to ensure a good shot.
These kids are very busy with rehearsals for their first concert and award ceremony that will be held today at the New Town Hall Auditorium. This concert is Jeremiah’s way of encouraging his young disciples to keep at their craft. “They work very hard,” he says. “There’s so much energy and enthusiasm that goes into their sessions and I wanted them to have a chance to show the public how far they’ve come.” The award ceremony will see Jeremiah present his pupils with Beginner’s Certificates in Dance. “It’s important to give them confirmation of their achievements as well,” he insists.
At ‘Might Steps’, these youngsters learn different forms of dance, including ballet, hip hop, freestyle and contemporary dance. “They get to pick what they want to learn,” says their mentor. “Not the parents. The kids come for the first class and I ask them what they’d like to learn and then they are assigned a day to come and learn that particular genre.”
Sessions with Jeremiah are light-hearted and fun-he knows the age group he’s working with are not to be pushed and kept to the grindstone on their noses.
With the proceeds from the concert, he hopes to expand the scope of his academy. At present ‘Mighty Steps’ operates from the confines of a pre-school in Pitakotte-with the proceeds Jeremiah will improve on his classes’ venue. As for the rest -it will be donated to some needy charities that he works closely with. So take time today evening to go and watch the talented young dancers at ‘Mighty Steps’ groove to their favourite tunes at 5pm, at the New Town Hall Auditorium. Tickets will be made available at the entrance.
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