Carroll County Y dance class performs routine to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Little kids naturally like to dance. Turn on the tunes, and they shake their booty. They make up the moves as they go along.

But dance class is another matter. The energy and enthusiasm are there, but the hands and feet don’t always go the right place at the right time. The little dancers all watch the instructor, but the reaction time is all over the place.

Children’s dance instructors have a lot of patience. They know it takes practice, practice, practice – to learn one routine.

The Carroll County Y, located in Flora, offers dance classes to 4-6-year-olds and 7-9-year-olds. They’re held once a week for six weeks. The current classes have just one session left.

So for the last six weeks, the kids have been learning one routine, to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” – the Miley Cyrus version. And fun they’ve had, according to the parents and to the instructors, Brittany Rund and Lorelei Seip. Brittany is on the Carroll dance team (Cougaretz), and Lorelei is a Carroll cheerleader.

How does that step go? The class is informal, and parents, grandparents, and siblings come to watch.

The young dancers had a little break in their routine last week when three members of Purdue’s Golduster Dance Team came to work with the class. They were invited by the Y’s program director, Katie Pennington.

The Goldusters are one of two Purdue dance teams. They perform alongside the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band.

They brought gold poms for the children to practice with, and gave each child an autographed poster of the team.

Goldusters leading the “moves” were Rachel Syphers, Brittany Smith, and Lauren Stroman.

Besides dance class, the Y offers youth programs in gymnastics and cheerleading. They are each offered twice a year. The next class is gymnastics, which will start Feb. 16, with registration by Feb. 9.