In The Classroom:

Most of the Laguna Dance Festival is focused on professional performances and master classes, but festival artistic director Jodie Gates still found time to reach children with Dancing Hands on Wednesday.

The two-hour workshop, conceived from scratch by the former Joffrey Ballet star, blended movement and painting. It was held in the middle of the weeklong festival, which concludes Sunday.

About 30 grade school-age kids, mostly girls, attended Dancing Hands.

“They were very creative and energetic,” Gates said.

Each child picked his or her own favorite thing, from a daisy to chocolate, to which they assigned an interpretive dance move.

Standing in line, each child in turn demonstrated his or her moves, which was incorporated into a larger dance by adding each child’s move in succession.

Gates said the kids didn’t feel pressured by their parents; once the live drummer began performing, they lost inhibitions and became creative.

A child who chose a snake slithered on the floor; the daisy child stretched her arms to create the shape of the flower.

They then performed on the room’s stage for their parents in two groups, separated by age.

The end of the session became a free-for-all, with kids running around and dancing. Each child proudly showed their parents a painting they made of their favorite thing.

Gates said she plans to bring the workshop back in next year’s dance festival. She has also been talking to parents regarding offering it at other times.

“I would love to make it more than once a year,” she said.

She added that the workshop feeds into the festival’s mission to bring dance to the general public.

“They left here loving to dance,” Gates said.