Longevity highlighted for dance program with dwindling funds

AMENIA — More than 50 students in grades two through six stepped to the beat and danced to the music last weekend for the culminating recital of the town of Amenia’s “Dancing With the Stars of Tomorrow� program.

By most accounts, the dance program is the only program in the county that is free to join. It’s a 10-week program run by dance instructor June Kaufman, with help from assistants Sue Pomeisl and Karen Storms. Students meet every week to go over steps and routines, learning different styles of dance from modern to classical.

“I liked doing the Charleston the best!� said 9-year-old Byron Hurn, who said that when he was dancing “it felt like I was one of the older kids.�

But while interest and participation remain high for the program, which Councilwoman Vicki Doyle estimated has been offered for the past 25 or 26 years (she has  largely overseen the program at the town level), funding is not always guaranteed.

The town budget for the program has been as high as $6,600. For the six years Doyle has been involved, costs have been offset largely by grants from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s Northeast Dutchess Fund and the Community Foundation of New York. But funding from the Community Foundation of New York, which gave the town $2,000 for two consecutive years, is not available anymore and the state grant has been steadily dwindling, from a high of $1,500 six years ago to slightly less than $800 this year.

“The last few years it’s been tight,� Doyle said, adding that new grant avenues are always being explored and there is some hope for a Dutchess County Arts Council grant for 2011.

This year $800 was cut from the dance program’s budget line, meaning the assistants’ salaries were cut in half while Kaufman herself took a $500 pay decrease.

Organizers fear that if they charge for the program, some children will have to drop out due to cost. Also, to qualify for the state grant, the program must be free.

But with the state grant at $800 and dropping, Doyle said the town eventually may have to risk that money in order to keep the program afloat.

“I’m hoping to give it another year where we don’t have to risk $800,� she said. “Amenia is unique in offering a dance program in addition to the baseball and soccer we fund.�

The program has had to endure other cuts as well. In the past few years the pre-K, kindergarten and first grades had to be eliminated because there was too much interest and not enough staff.

“You try to do the program with less and less,� Kaufman admitted after last Sunday’s show. “But it’s still the only program in Dutchess county for all kids that’s free.�

Kaufman is gaining some ground with the male demographic. She said she hoped that the recent popularity of television shows like “Glee� and “Dancing with the Stars� might lure more boys into the program. But while there has been some improvement as far as the boy-girl ratio is concerned, it’s not as much as she had hoped.

If there is one shining star to the program, it’s the longevity of a few senior dancers who are now in the sixth grade and have no intention of leaving the program next year. During this year’s recital, Abby Hoke, Kayla Agostini and Barijana Caldas were anchored by James Wheeler in several numbers.

“We definitely want to come back next year,� Abby said after the performance.

“They said there’s no rule against it,� added James.

“What I promised them is that we would extend the dance program in the other direction,� Kaufman explained. The four dancers asked Kaufman for extra time for private instruction after classes, which Kaufman volunteered to do.

“I do it on my own,� she said. “It really shows the level they’re at. There’s more to life than writing, reading and arithmetic. When the day comes to get married, people all come to me and say, ‘Teach me how to dance!’ But these classes will stay with these children for a lifetime.�