The San Pedro Dance Academy teamed up with the Belize Tumblers Association to offer the first ever ‘Intro to Gymnastics’ Summer Camp to kids in San Pedro. The summer camp started on Monday July 23rd and will go through Friday August 3rd and is being offered to children of all ages, targeting the ages 5-14.
According to Catherine Paz of the San Pedro Dance Academy, the idea for the gymnastics summer camp came after the Academy realized how much gymnastics moves were being used in the dancers’ choreography. “We needed to do something extra for the girls this summer, and after noticing that the dance company incorporates cartwheels and other gymnastics moves we just thought that we should get them perfected. This would help them in their dance careers.”
The summer camp is for two weeks during which the kids will learn skills such as hand springs with back flips, and full twists among others. Mr. Mark Grant, President of the Belize Tumbler’s Association is on the island, teaching the kids the various gymnastics skills. Mark’s group has been performing in the Belize City and Orange Walk Carnival for years now.
Young Caroline is one of the participants. She stated, “I think that it’s very fun and that we learn very quickly and even some kids can’t do stuff but then they learn very quick. I’ve learned lots of exciting things like how to do a front flip and so on”.
While this is the first of its kind in San Pedro, according to Catherine, they are hoping that this could be a continuous program to be offered. Presently the cost to sign up is $60.00 and $80.00. Persons interested in joining or becoming sponsors may do so by contacting Catherine Paz at 666-4526 or through email at [email protected]. While the camp is geared towards members of the dance academy, it is opened to the general public. So far, 35 kids have signed up for the program.
