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Tiny Dancers

The Kids of COCA

Onstage, they’re beaming. And it hits you: When’s the last time you caught a performance and saw this many smiles? The expressions change, of course, to match the impressive range of moves and music. But even when the kids are swaggering across the stage for a moment of ’tude, it’s not long before exuberance returns.

As it should. They are still kids—11 to 18 in age, taking five classes a week as part of COCAdance (in its 15th year) or Ballet Eclectica (in its second). And they’re at that level where you can sense them improving—sharpening their skills—even as you watch.

Afterward, they’re in street clothes and talking. Jacob Lewis: “The best part is to see that the people actually like what you’re doing, after spending hours and hours working just for them.” Kelly Marsh: “The coolest part is showing the people that you’re not just here to be a person—that you’re a gift.” Ashley Ervin: “We have a second family here.”

The kids, it seems, are all right. They’re graduating from COCA and heading only up—dancing professionally, studying at Juilliard. Ashley Ervin, in her seventh year with COCA, sees her own future clearly: Fordham University, to major in dance. But also: pre-med.

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