When the spotlight is on dance, youngsters don’t seem to ever want to stop.

For that reason, the staff of Summer Spotlight at Troy University made the decision to extend the Spotlight on Dance camp from a half day to a full day of dancing and fun this year.

“The kids who attended the Spotlight on Dance in previous years and their parents expressed interest in extending the camp from a half day to a 9 to 5 day,” said Tori Lee Averett, camp director. “We decided to give the full day camp a try and see how it would work. And, it has worked great. The staff is excited. The kids are excited and they are eagerly working toward the showcase performance.”

Averett said the Spotlight on Dance camp is designed for ages eight through 12 and built on storytelling through movement. No dance experience is required.

“Spotlight on Dance is also recommended for young athletes to increase skill, agility, balance and focus,” she said. “At this camp, we have 17 girls and three boys. We have classes in modern dance, improvisation, musical theater dance and jazz and hip-hop.”

Averett said the campers had different favorite dances but the hip-hop kind of “freaked” out some of them.

“Not being used to that type of dancing, they had a difficult time getting into it, but they had a great teacher from Texas,” Averett said. “He is one of the guest artists for Summer Spotlight. He is an outstanding role model for boys, both as an artist and as an athlete. All of the campers have enjoyed him and learned a lot from him.”

Averett said Spotlight on Dance is a tailor-made camp for young kids.

“Young kids are not built to sit still,” she said. “They want to be up and moving. Spotlight on Dance teaches them how to communicate with their bodies. It teaches them how to gain control of their bodies. Athletes do the same thing, just in a different way.”

For young people, Averett said dance allows children to express themselves with movement.

“Dance is a form of self-expression,” she sad. “It’s also a way to release energy and emotions. Dancing can benefit people of all ages but we don’t often think about dance as an outlet for expression, but it is.”

Summer Spotlight offers four camps from pre-school four to college freshmen.

The camps will continue through July 26 on the campus of Troy University.

The Creative Drama Camp runs July 13-18 with a half-day camp for ages four and five and a full day camp for ages six though 13.

The Performance Intensive and Technical Theater Intensive camps will be July 20 through 26 and are designed for serious theater students.’