Like the beating of a heart, the sound of tapping feet and music are a constant at Company N' Tempo Theatre & Dance Centre.   Six days a week children and adults are in the studios, learning the fundamentals and then the intricacies of jazz, tap, and ballet dancing, theater, voice and musical performance.  Both children and adults attend classes,  in the evening the building pulses with the noise and energy of their efforts.  In the mornings, children as young as 2-1/2 are busy skipping, balancing, and tossing bean bags to learn more about space and movement.  Now in its fifth year, studio director Rose Marie Libera view's Company N' Tempo as an arts education center.   It offers a structured curriculum which Libera hopes will hook young people on the performing arts, not necessarily so they can pursue music or dance as a career, but to give them an appreciation for those art forms, help build their self-esteem,  and give them skills they can use throughout their lives.

     "We want them to be able to think on their feet," said Libera, a former high school English teacher with a masters degree in physical education, who also trained and traveled with a College Dance Company.  After founding a small Dance Troupe as well as the Theatre & Dance Centre, Libera feels her instructors need backgrounds not just in the performing arts, but in arts education as well Classes are structured and run according to a Syllabus.   For some students, it is like another day at school.

     Ten-year-old Alexander Kromidas of Newington is at Company N' Tempo four days a week, studying tap and jazz dancing and taking singing lessons for the school's Musical Theatre production He also plays the viola.  Alexander said that he likes all of his classes, and eventually would like to make the performing arts his career.  He is one of just a few boys taking classes at the centre, and said that some of his schoolmates think it is unusual he spends so much time there.  "A lot of them think it's not for boys," Alexander said "But they could do it if they wanted to there is nothing wrong with following what you want to do".   

     "The idea of a theatre and dance center does seem to keep parents from registering young boys," said Libera," although there are some boys in the pre-school programs.  We find more in theatre, voice and guitar.  If boys started in our preschool program which includes movement fundamentals and sports readiness activities, they would develop coordination and agility skills which improve self direction and esteem.  Movement fundamentals can be applied to everything from karate to cheerleading to dance or soccer.  "Although Company N' Tempo is an anti-recital school, youngsters may choose to be in two musical presentations a year".  The scripted musical includes singers, dancers, and actors.  On the road performances have included appearances at the West Hartford Jewish Community Center, the Hartford Club and area schools and community events.

     Besides the program and  classes for children, Company N' Tempo has an affiliate adult performing troupe.  The troupe performs several times a year for corporate corporate functions, cabaret evenings, or private clubs.  "A reproduction of jitterbug and Canteen dancing for the 50th anniversary of W.W.II was a big hit With audiences from Springfield MA. to Avon CT." said Libera.  Collaborating with Steps in Time Dance Hall in Canton, Libera explained, a cabaret Evening entitled "Romance and Rhythm" is scheduled for February 17 at the newly renovated facility.  Company N' Tempo has also choreographed for local theatre production and given workshops or presentations in schools, libraries, and in community centers. 

     Integrating Arts Education into school curriculum is another area that Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Cook and Libera are working on in cooperation with the Connecticut Alliance for Arts Education.  There is a National effort to integrate Arts Education into public education.  "The process and effort used to create or appreciate the arts when applied to academics creates a method by which students can internalize information.  Learning is assimilated with more ease and stays with individuals because they have stepped into the material with mind, body and soul," says Cook. 

     "Through organizations like CREC and CAAPHERED, PTO's and PTA's, Company 'N' Tempo staff and other artists can help teachers weave the arts and the processes associated with them into the academic curriculum for better learning," adds Cook.  "Keeping the arts as completely separate subjects is irresponsible in today's world of instant information.  Everything we see, hear, and feel is presented to us through some art form.  We all need to understand the power here so as productive citizens we have some input and influences on our instant world filled with momentary quality," Libera explained.  "And, according to several studies, statistics show integration of arts to have a positive effect on Mastery Test scores, student's critical thinking skills, and students' commitment to learning." 

     This is a subject I could go on and on about. The process of learning and the methods used to encourage learning are a major concern for me as Director of the Company 'N' Tempo Centre.  I would like to see students attack academic subjects with the same passion they attack learning to dance or when learning a sport.   At a recent conference at the State Legislative Office Building in Hartford, I listened to Business leaders make a plea for a more conceptual approach to education.   Business today needs very well rounded individuals.  The quality of life can easily slip away if we let it and with it, our creative, feeling, thinking citizens."

     "Performing arts education is conceptual by nature.   Therefore, went the rote, mimicking method of teaching is used true understanding is rarely accomplished in any area.  Skill and technique must be internalized before true understanding can be expected," explained Cook. 

     "We are constantly struggling with ways to produce intelligent, creative, thinking children.  A conceptual approach to teaching and learning is used at Company 'N Tempo Theatre and Dance Centre," said Libera.   

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