IRONWOOD - On Thursday night, a short odyssey began for area youngsters.
"Show me a shape you've never seen before," Katharine Larson, dance instructor, told a stage full of young dancers.
The Eisenhower Dance Ensemble drove 11 hours from Rochester by way of Marquette to "...bring dance to everyone, even the very young," Laurie Eisenhower, creative director, said. "Some kids learn more physically; they like to move," she said.
The EDE is known as a premier, 23-year-old Midwestern dance company.
Elements of dance EDE likes to teach children include speed, shape, direction and level, Eisenhower said. These are broken down from dance's elements of space, shape, time and form.
A group of Girl Scouts from Bessemer and Wakefield turned out to dance Thursday at the Historic Ironwood Theatre. Their leaders decided it would be better to dance than sled in the frigid temperatures.
Thursday's classes began with creative movement and wrapped up with contemporary style dance. A master class on Friday taught contemporary dance to ages 13 and up.
The dance company performs at the theater Saturday at 7:30 p.m.