We were all so excited to learn new ‘Michael’ steps and dance our feet off with Juliette again! We had all helped to move the furniture to have a big clear space to dance in, and now we waited (although we could hardly stand it!) Tick, tock…RING! “Ahhhh! C’est Juliette! C’est Juliette!” Needless to say, the children were eagerly awaiting this, the 3^rd visit of Juliette Buffard, professional dancer.

For this visit, all of the children of La Maison de l’Enfant participated. They began in a professional manner by warming up in a circle. The warmed up all the parts of their bodies they would be using to dance, so as not to injure themselves. Kasia and I helped some of the very young children with the more complicated movements, all beaming with big smiles on their faces.

The children then danced in groups ‘in the round’. Of course they were a little shy at first…but that didn’t last long! Hector had brought his MJ hat and sunglasses and was in character as soon as he put them on! When they dance, the children lose themselves in the music, and it’s best when they dance like no-one’s watching!

Juliette taught us to nod our heads in unison – 2 to the left, 2 to the middle, 2 to the right…not as easy as it sounds for 2 year-olds! The children concentrated as we went on to learn to moonwalk. Groups of children took it in turns to moonwalk from one side of the room to the other, cheered on by their friends.
The last part was a challenge we relished! A sequence of movements: feet together, toes in, toes out, jazz hands, cardigan back, comb your hair, comb in your pocket, 4 pushes! This is one we will be practicing very often, I think!
When we had finished, the children began requesting I put on their favourite ‘Michael’ tracks again so they could dance freely…to which I happily obliged!