MIAMI – It’s summer and parents know it can be expensive to find activities for their kids to do outside the house.
But one local ballroom dance pro is taking it upon herself to make something like a dance camp accessible to talented kids who otherwise could not afford it.
World-renowned ballroom pro champion Galina Detkina didn’t have an easy road to the top in a sport and an art form inaccessible to many.
“In my childhood, like, I started at the age of 5 but at a certain point of my life I had to take eight years off when I was a teenager,” Detkina said. “My parents could not support me financially.”
She added, “I know how tough it can be and that it breaks dreams of many children.”
Now in Miami, Detkina is fueled with a desire to help and sponsored by the kindness of some.
“That was like always my dream,” she said.
Detkina, a resident instructor at Dance Arts Miami, is now offering scholarships for young aspiring dancers unable to afford formal instruction.
It’s weeks of intensive, in-depth training with some of the best in the world in the city’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
“If I can put a little something into maybe making somebody’s dream come true to become a dancer in the future, I will be very fortunate to help,” Detkina said.
Studio owner Esther Frances says it is the opportunity of a lifetime “to be able to show them a little bit of the small piece of the experience that I’ve been lucky to be able to enjoy.”
Detkina hopes not just to find and inspire new talent to follow in her footsteps, but offer life lessons to help them reach their dreams.
“It’s not only about TikTok and Instagram,” she said. “This is something much more deep if you want to become a ballroom dancer.”
Dance Arts Miami’s studios are at 250 NE 61st St.
There are only a limited number of spots for a selected group of kids. Auditions were open as of Thursday and the camp starts later in July.
For more information, parents are asked to call 305-984-8504 or visit the DanceArts Miami website.