Courses for kids nurture young talent

In today’s high pressured world, school is not enough for the ambitious parent seeking to develop his or her progeny’s talents. Dancing, painting, singing, acting and photography classes are all on the menu for children across Romania, and new courses keep emerging to keep up with the ever-increasing demand. BR talked to some of the trainers and managers to get some tips for those seeking this sort of enrichment for their offspring.

Corina Dumitrescu

Children’s Film and Television School Micile Vedete (The Little Stars) aims to help children overcome their fear of being in the spotlight and appearing in front of the camera, explain the managers behind the idea, sisters Ema and Ariana Pendiuc. It all started in May this year, after the two returned from the Cannes Film Festival, where the short film Magda, directed by Ariana and produced by her sister, was selected for the Short Film Corner category.

“When we came back, we wanted to share our experience with others and we immediately thought of children. If you learn the basic elements of this domain as young as possible, if you realize from an early age that you have talent and this is your path, then you have more chances for the future,” says Ema Pendiuc. What qualifies the two sisters in this area? Ariana explains, “My sister has been working in television for several years, and has even produced a children’s show (…). Meanwhile, I have been working quite a lot with casting agencies and children for commercials.”

Other teachers at the Micile Vedete School are all film professionals: directors, image directors and actors, as well as people with a background in television, says Ema. At the moment, 60 children aged between 5 and 11 take film and television classes at the two headquarters that the school has in Bucharest. Ariana adds that, in the future, schools will be set up in other locations across Romania. In spite of the crisis, parents continue to prioritize developing their children’s talents and building their future, says Ema. The school also offers classes for parents, aimed to help them understand their children’s needs better, but also to consolidate their relationship.

Courses take the form of weekly film and television workshops done in a simulated television studio. Memory, stage movement, diction, improvisation, imagination stimulation exercises, professional photos and casting participation are all part of the curriculum, culminating with the making of a short film featuring the children. The next round of courses begins in January, with registration starting in December.

However, if television and film stardom are not quite what you have in mind for your little darling, art is another option. MORA Foundation courses (More Opportunities for Romanian Artists), part of the I Love Bucharest public art program, were begun in 2005, further proof of the foundation’s support for art development and one of the first such suppliers on the market. The teachers are artists involved in the ILB projects, who also hold teaching experience. Classes consist of painting, shaping and cutting exercises, all part of learning a variety of techniques.

Although the crisis has put the classes beyond the reach of some aspiring families, say the foundation’s officials, there are students who have grown with the courses, and who have brought their siblings and friends along. Adult art lessons are also available, following demand from parents. These ten-session modules are held on weekday evenings, while those for children take the form of five-session modules, organized depending on age, during weekends. No preselection is necessary for the art classes, the only conditions have to do with age, in the case of children, and interest, for adults, say officials. “Developing skills is our mission,” adds Mihaela Miron of the MORA foundation.

Painting, acting and handcrafts seem to go well together, at least in the case of Step in Art, created by Irina Tanase from a EUR 5,000 investment, which should be recouped in the first semester of 2011, she says, demonstrating that such vocational schools are an investment worth consideration nowadays.

Step in Art classes are for children and teenagers aged between 4 and 18. A maximum of seven students can attend a group course in art, aimed at teaching children basic drawing skills which may be developed more intensively. Acting classes are given by young actresses and include games, improvisation, role playing, diction, as well as scenic movement. No preselection is held for these courses and, in the case of talented children, recommendations are made for more qualified institutions, says Tanase. A new center will be opened in Bucharest in the second half of 2011, she adds.

Analia Selis, a well-known singer of Argentinean origins based in Romania, has recently started Sonidos, a center for lifestyle courses, serving both adults and children. Children’s acting courses and fun dance exercises, physical exercises for adults, as well as specific exercises for pregnant women are all on the center’s menu. Selis says the establishment was created to “help students make music in groups,” but was extended to supply other services, which will be further developed in the future.

The team behind Sonidos is formed of young but experienced professionals. Although the center has just opened, it has already received much positive feedback, says Selis. Currently pregnant, she also intends to start a music class for small children, aged between 2 and 4 years old, and their parents, which will also be held in English.

Dance courses could also lure children away from their computers or game consoles. Espansivo, which offers such classes, was started in 2005, with the purpose of not only helping children develop their dance skills but also their personality, artistic side and desire to live more healthily. The center’s courses focus on modern moves, Latin-American dances (the Cha-Cha, Samba, Merengue, Rumba, Jive and Salsa), as well as social dances (waltz, tango). They aim to “develop children’s rhythm, musicality, movement coordination, posture, attitude and expressiveness,” explains Ionut Matei, general manager at Espansivo. In spite of the crisis, 2010 continues to be a busy year for the dance school, where children’s classes are increasing. What’s more, Matei adds, an awareness campaign has been started in schools and kindergartens in order to teach children the benefits of dancing.

Photography is another means of developing a child’s artistic vision. Atelierul de croit imagini (the Workshop for Creating Images) is photographer Alisa Tarciniu’s initiative, aimed to help foster “a balanced and rounded development for children”. A workshop consists of five two-hour sessions, with the main results the children’s photographs, which are posted on the site and on occasion displayed in various galleries. Through these classes, “children will learn to regard things differently, to see like a photographer, and to catch those fairytale gleams that are around them and simply need to be discovered. They will learn to express themselves, know their own states of mind and transmit them… with the aid of photography,” concludes Tarciniu

For more of the same in one single location, try Youpi Club, which offers music, theater and film, arts and crafts, photo, art, martial arts, dance, English, cooking and recreational courses. Adela Crisan founded the center after 10 years of experience in private schools, where many parents complained that extracurricular activities took place in separate locations or that they were not delivered in good conditions.

The club’s classes are for all children, from the youngest, who attend with their parents, to teenagers. Two months after Youpi Club’s launch in 2010, Crisan says that it already had 90 participants, meaning the initial investment will hopefully be made back by the first trimester of 2011. As Crisan puts it, although parents are more reluctant now to spend money on themselves, they are not so thrifty when it comes to their children’s future and development.

Picture courtesy of Scoala Micile Vedete

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