NattyBop

My daughter has been dancing with Nattybop for almost two years. It began with a joint 4th birthday party with her best friend. We hired Natalie Jones, Nattybop owner, dance instructor and party animal, to bring the girls’ then-obsession, Frozen to life. Natalie successfully sustained the interest of about a dozen children with pom poms, ribbons, games and challenges for a full hour. Even the boys were happily involved in tossing ‘snowballs’ around. A few weeks later, we signed up for Nattybop’s weekly dance lessons. Unlike the formal nature of traditional dance lessons, Nattybop’s approach is to incorporate fun elements of various dance styles ranging from ballet to hip hop to musical theatre. My daughter leaves each 45-minute class humming the latest tune she danced to and can’t wait for the next lesson. We had Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake on loop for months. As can be expected from a group of four to six-year-olds, there is some silliness and a lot of giggling, and Natalie joins in as well but is always able to rein her students back in. I love that whenever I take a peek the students often have on a hat, feathers, a grass skirt or some other prop Natalie has pulled out of her rolling luggage. It makes for such an enjoyable lesson to have so much colour and infectious music.