Since 1970, countless generations of youngsters have donned tights and slippers for a weekly ballet class with San Francisco institution Miss Tilly. Teaching preschoolers about dance, however, is much more than plies and tendus for Tilly Abbe, whose 350 students range from 3 to 7 years old -- it's about giving them skills that will last a lifetime.
In "Ballet with Miss Tilly" Spark follows this veteran teacher to her California Street studios, where she and her daughter Iliza Gates offer a range of classes in dance, theater, hip hop and yoga, all designed to infuse a love of movement and the arts in their preschool-aged students. Early childhood is a critical time for physical and emotional development, Abbe argues, and she specializes in working with kids at an age when they are not only forming their reflexes and fine motor control, they're honing social skills that they'll need throughout their lives. Indeed, recent studies have shown that physical fitness is closely tied to a child's academic abilities, and with so many parents recognizing the importance of early exposure to the arts, Abbe's classes are always enormously popular.
Read more on the KQED Spark website.
