Empowering through dance: Girls just wanna have fun

The Girls Inc. art room was filled with young ladies who were stretching, jumping and twirling in preparation for Kelly Griffin’s dance class Tuesday.

Kelly, who will be a senior at Corona del Mar High School this fall, started teaching her dance program at the Costa Mesa center two weeks ago to girls ages 5 to 11.

Since she was 2, Kelly has studied ballet, jazz, lyrical and contemporary dance, musical theater and hip-hop.

“Dance is something that helps you let go of negativity and gain positivity,” Kelly said. “We go over dance combinations in class but I want the girls to also see that there’s a motive and purpose behind what they’re dancing to.”

With this mission in mind, Kelly decided to name her program DEW, an acronym that stands for Dance Empowering Women.

She first pitched the idea of the classes to Ashley Cashdollar, Orange County’s Girls Inc. Volunteer Coordinator, back in March 2014.

“We like to have volunteers bring in their skills and passions,” Cashdollar said. “When that’s shared with the girls, the hope is that they find a new passion too.”

Girls Inc., a national nonprofit with locations in all 50 states, aims to provide girls with mentorship and educational programs. The Costa Mesa location offers volunteer-run classes daily, giving local girls free access to lessons in gardening, piano, creative writing and volleyball.

When Kelly proposed DEW to the Costa Mesa center, Cashdollar said she was intrigued by her idea.

“We do have dance classes but Kelly’s doing a different spin on things,” Cashdollar said. “She’s going into mind plus body activities that focus on how the girls are feeling while incorporating the movement of dance.”

At the beginning of each class, she presents an Inspiration Board to the girls. The board has a quote that signifies the theme of that day’s class.

For Tuesday, Kelly had written: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

She choreographed a dance to OMI’s song “Cheerleader” for Tuesday’s class.

“I like to pick a song that brings meaning to the day’s quote,” she said. “With this song, I wanted to show that they’re all capable of bringing cheer and support to other people.”

While teaching the choreography, Kelly often has the girls reach out an open palm. She referred to this dance move as the “helping hand.”

For some girls at the center, Kelly’s class is the only place where they can learn dance.

“I usually dance by myself,” Rickie Stallions, 9, said. “But here, it’s fun and I don’t have to go all the way to a dance class somewhere else. Everybody’s here to be themselves.”

By the end of class, Kelly encouraged the girls to write their own messages on the Inspiration Board. One sentence read: “Don’t be someone else than who you are.”

Kelly said her hope is to continue DEW for the remainder of the summer in Costa Mesa and possibly expand the program to other Girls Inc. centers in Southern California.