Immersing an inner-city kid in a regimented, seven-year dance instruction program may not be easy—for either student or teacher—as Lisa Townsend (B.F.A. '82, dance) well knows. But the path is one that can bring great rewards for both.

Lisa Townsend is the program director of Dance—The Next Generation, an educational program affiliated with the Sarasota Ballet of Florida that was recently awarded a $10,000 grant by the Presidents' Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Started in 1991, D.N.G. (as participants refer to it) provides free dance lessons to students chosen from four local elementary schools in the disadvantaged areas of Sarasota for a period of seven years, beginning with two classes a week and progressing to three times weekly. The 100 or so students in the program come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and range from grades 3 through 8. Between 35 and 50 new students are admitted each year. This year, for the first time in the program's history, there is a special class for 12 boys (the largest number ever enrolled). The funding for the program comes from private grants and individual donations, and the cost per student is approximately $1,500 per year (including dancewear and transportation from school to dance classes).

Lisa Townsend

Though she has danced most of her life, it was not until she starting working with Dance—The Next Generation that Townsend found her true calling. After dancing with a Biblical research ministry in Ohio, where she also taught dance to children, Townsend and her husband lived in Hawaii (where she danced with a company) before settling in Sarasota. Townsend began taking classes at the Sarasota Ballet School and hoped to find an outlet for her choreographic skills in their performing group that visited local schools. Her affinity for working with younger dancers was quickly noticed.

The success of Dance—The Next Generation is a credit to Townsend's talent as an artist and an administrator, according to Jennifer Gemmeke, director of education at the Sarasota Ballet. Mrs. Gemmeke helped develop this program and recommended that artistic director Robert de Warren hire Lisa to direct it. "Lisa is very knowledgeable and has a wonderful feeling with children. She is a perfectionist, and the kids really love her. They always give her a hug after class."

Hugs aside, there are days when Lisa acutely feels the challenge of working with students who must first master the discipline of being quiet and standing still before they even get to the complications of dance steps. Some students come from unstable families or are emotionally disturbed, and some even lash out during class. Thus, when attempting to teach a complicated pattern to adolescents with such problems, Lisa admits the situation can get trying. But she never gives up, and students rise to the occasion when it really counts: at performance time. (They participate annually in The Nutcracker and other productions.)

Townsend says she draws on her Juilliard experience every day: "Juilliard taught me to be open-minded and to listen to what a choreographer wants, which may not be what you, the dancer, want to do," she admits (recalling the challenge modern dance presented her when she arrived at Juilliard with mostly classical training). "One of the big things I'm trying to get my students to see is how they have to focus on their task. You can't just look at something once and go, 'O.K., no problem; I can do it' and then go mess around—or not pay attention when the combination is given and then expect to do it." The hard work required in dance classes pays off in increased confidence and self-esteem—and, for many students, improved grades in school.

Clearly, Townsend's high standards have made an important impression on many of the students in the program. One youngster recently told her that the program "taught her how to finish what she started." D'Andrea Joyelle Green, a D.N.G. graduate and current dance major at Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania, is incredibly grateful to Townsend and the other instructors. "It was a tough seven years," Green recalls, "but it changed my life." Green says she would not be pursuing such a high level of dance training had it not been for Dance—The Next Generation. She wants to be a performer and eventually go into arts administration.

Students like Green are part of why Lisa loves what she does. The dedication required from both students and teachers is significant, and Dance—The Next Generation is a model for educators trying to help youngsters focus on their art, regardless of what else they may be struggling with in their lives.