KING

Six boys and 19 girls on Wednesday had their first day in DanceChance class.

BELLEVUE, Wash. - Wednesday was the first day of class for two dozen third graders who have won a spot in this fall's DanceChance program with Pacific Northwest Ballet.

The DanceChance screening team visited six Bellevue partner schools and screened 400 students for the Fall 2006 Introductory Session.

Students are selected on the basis of their musicality, physical ability and coordination.

DanceChance coordinator Jennifer Termaat said the program is an eye-opening experience for the children.

"They're really unsure, especially the boys, about what to expect. They don't know that dance is very athletic, so it's kind of a brand new experience for them to be in a dance studio," she said.

PNB says the goal of DanceChance is to discover talented public school students and provide them with an opportunity they might not otherwise have.

"These students and their families and people in their community get to experience ballet through the student being in the program," said Termaat.

Francia Russell began DanceChance in 1994 with four partner schools in Seattle. The program now has thirty-one partner schools (25 in Seattle and six in Bellevue).