Yellowknife (Apr 30/03) - When dances made famous long ago in Europe were properly broken down into steps, and ballet lessons were set pretty much in stone, the masters could never have imagined how far reaching those lessons would be.

Six-year-olds in Yellowknife are taking ballet classes.

They use the Cecchetti method, developed by Italian master Enrico Cecchetti, to make beautiful shapes with their bodies.

On Saturday, in the Tungsten Room in the Yellowknife Inn, seven budding ballerinas pointed their feet, and held their arms just as little girls and boys have for hundreds of years before them.

And their parents and friends looked on, snapping pictures, and bursting with pride.

Michelle Bevan watched her dark-haired daughter, Emily, 7, perform the various movements dance teacher Karen Johnson firmly (but never harshly) demanded from the class.

"She's a bit more confident," Bevan said of her daughter's response to ballet lessons. "But I think they're nervous today because we're watching."

The demonstration was organized by Johnson to show parents and friends how far the young ballerinas have come since they started the course.

Johnson, who trained at York University and the School of the Toronto Dance Theatre, understands how important it is for dance students to perform.

She mixed classical barre exercises --- plies, tendues, and ronde de jambes -- with activities in the centre of the room that let the kids use their imaginations.

Bevan, who held her son in her arms throughout the demonstration (at one point she asked him if he'd like to take ballet.

He thought about it for a second, then said no), never took ballet lessons herself. But she wanted to expose her daughter to the arts.

"She plays soccer. She loves mountain biking," she said of Emily. "She's pretty well-rounded."