Ballet for babies: Tutu School opens new Long Island location

Stormi Llivicura  reaches up to pop bubbles floating down from above. To Stormi, 14 months old, it’s a game, but the little girl from Patchogue is also being introduced to ballet positions — rising on tiptoes, stretching upward with arms.

Dressed in a yellow tutu and pink ballet slippers and wearing matching yellow bows in her hair, Stormi is taking a baby ballet class at the new Tutu School that opened recently in Sayville. The school offers classes for children as young as 6 months to as old as 8 years; some of the youngest students have ponytails sticking up from their heads like Pebbles Flintstone and diapers peeking out from underneath their tutu bottoms.

Parents help their babies and toddlers move their arms and feet into ballet’s first, second, third, fourth and fifth positions. "It helps with muscle memory as they grow into ballet class," says owner Christine Campisi-Saccone. "The whole curriculum in Tutu School was designed by a ballerina and a child development specialist."

SECOND LONG ISLAND LOCATION

Tutu School is a franchise, so any studio will have the same look — the pink and lavender walls, the framed costumes on the wall from ballets such as "Coppelia" and "The Nutcracker," chandeliers hanging over the dance floor. Sayville is the second location on Long Island — Tutu School Commack opened in 2021, launched by business partners Siobhan Santapaola and Alison Ribellino.

"Baby Ballet" covers 6 months to 18 months old; then students move to "Tutu Toddlers" from 18 months to 3 years. Both of those levels have caregivers participating with their children.

"Even though at this age they’re not doing so many technical skills because they’re young, they’re still dancing in their own way," Santapaola says.

From ages 3 to 5, students attend "Exploring Ballet" without their caregivers. "Primary Ballet" is for students ages about 6 to 8, transitioning them to more advanced ballet techniques.

Classes in Sayville are $108 per month, in Commack the cost is $110 a month. Classes are 45 minutes each week. Newcomers can take one free trial class, owners say. 

SAUTE AND PAS DE DEUX

Sessions for the youngest dancers-to-be start with everyone saying "I love ballet" three times.

During the classes, the toddlers may jump up and down to get ready to learn the saute, a classic ballet jump. "We’ll have caregivers hold the baby and give them that motion of jumping up off the ground," Campisi-Saccone says.

Caregivers and children will move across the floor or run in a circle together, with the youngest being carried, an introduction to the partner dance called a pas de deux, Campisi-Saccone says.

Classical piano versions of familiar songs play in the background, including "Popular" from "Wicked" and "Rainbow Connection" from "The Muppet Movie." Class wraps up after about 45 minutes with a quick reading of a toddler version of a ballet story such as "Swan Lake" or "The Nutcracker."

A 'BONDING EXPERIENCE'

Parents say they put their young children in the dance program for a variety of reasons, including nostalgia and a desire for the children to socialize.

"When I was little, I said, ‘When I have a daughter, I want to put her in ballet. That’s my dream,’" says Stormi’s mother, Nicole Miranda, 21, a stay-at-home mother. Plus, Stormi is usually home with Nicole. "I want her to play with more kids and make friends," Nicole says.

"I danced as a kid. I wanted her to start learning," says Savanna Kiezek, 24, a stay-at-home mother from Northport who has been bringing her daughter, Milanna, 13 months, to a class in Commack since Milanna was 10 months old. "She’s learned her pliés. She likes to kick. She tries to point her feet."

Christian Ticora, 27, an EMT from Patchogue, and Hilda Nivelo Toledo, 25, a nurse, brought their daughter, Catalina, 9 months, to a recent class in Sayville.

"It’s a good bonding experience with the baby," Christian says. "We can tell her, ‘We took you to ballet school when you were younger.’" An added perk, he jokes: "It also helps to put her to sleep right after."