2004 WINNER - AGE GROUP PRIMARY 2B AND YOUNGER WHAT DANCE MEANS TO ME By Kaylee Martin Dance means so much to me because it is a part of me.  Believe it or not I count the days until my next dance class.  I say dance is food for the soul.  I express my feelings through dance.  When I feel stressed out from school, my friends or my family I know I can just dance it all away.  I dance when I'm bored, hyper, happy or sad.  It makes me feel that my life is good and that everything will be ok.  The great thing about dance is that you can dance anywhere and at anytime.   I feel dance teaches me mentally how to focus and to stay focused.  It teaches me how to have a goal and to work at it until the goal is finished.  Dance helps me physically by keeping me strong and flexible.  It makes me use muscles that I wouldn't normally use.  It keeps me active and teaches me to stay active, hopefully for my whole life.   I think dance is sweet like candy.  I love the feeling inside when I get a move right.  It is like winning a prize only better.  My dream is to dance solo on stage where I am dancing what I feel.  I want to have the skills to be able to dance well and to my own beat.
		2004  WINNER - PRIMARY 3 AND OLDER BEAUTIFUL BY MEREDITH KARLIN There is a specific stereotype attached to the word "dancer", and I don't like it.  In fact, I hate it.  Dancers are expected to be perfect: pretty, graceful, and elegant.  Unfortunately, the world has decided that a skinny body is the best prescription to help a dancer meet these requirements.  Being a mere 5 foot,3 and 3/4 inches tall and, at the very least, weighing in at 170 pounds, I am far from having the ideal proportions a dancer should have.  Dealing with body issues can be very, very hard, and one would think that a person of my stature would steer clear of such strict bodily guidelines as that of a dancer.  So what has kept me in dance for 13 years??   That is a long time, but what is most amazing and uplifiting is that not once has anyone at my studio criticized me or looked down upon me for my size (if they have, they do a great job of keeping it behind my back).  Sadly, being overweight is the first thing that a peer will notice at school, and I have heard about my weight many times from kids at school of which I have been in attendance for a lesser period of time than dance.  I find it very odd that dance, a place where I have chosen to put myself at the risk of the judgment of other teens, and at a place where a good physical body shape is expected, I have felt more comfortable with my image than at a public place, where students are made to attend, all shapes and sizes are forced to act together, and where there is no label on how to look -- or a least, one of lesser value.  I love to dance not because of recitals, or makeup, or the fancy costumes (although they are awfully fun), but most because I have a class of encouraging girls who never make me feel bad for not being up to their standards.  I know I am not one of the strongest dancers, but they never seem disappointed in  my ability.  I also enjoy dance because my teacher allows- welcomes such a diverse range of body types and people in general. She is always looking for a way ti include everyone in dance.  My greatest gratitude goes out to all of them.   So what is dance to me ?  Good question.  I am not comfortable enough with myself to join the school's dance team, or to pursue it further than 1 class a week, but for the little time I am with my dance class and my teacher, I feel like that pretty, graceful and elegant woman that dancers are thought to be because of the wonderful atmosphere I am surrounded by.   Dance makes me feel beautiful.
	Ashley Oldham - age 4 When I asked Ashley what dance means to her, or how she feels about dance, her reply was, "Dance doesn't make me feel like anything.  It's Just fun!"
		WHAT DANCE MEANS TO ME by Lindsay Lockhart Dance means hard work, practice and performance.  It means being on time for practice and recital.  Trying to remember the right steps makes me feel nervous at the shows, but at the end it is all fun and gives me some thing to do.