BABIESBritney: Inside the Dancer's Studio
Feb. 29 2008, Published 12:52 p.m. ET
Almost immediately following her release from the hospital in early February, Britney Spears went back into the dance studio, not only to work on her upcoming video, but to get back to one of her former favorite pastimes — teaching young boys and girls how to shake their tail feathers like a platinum-selling pop star.
And now, as the singer continues her closed-door sessions with these lucky kids, OK! brings you an exclusive look at exactly what she's teaching them — and how it's helping her to become a better mom.
"We started out with about seven kids and now we've doubled that to 15," Robert Baker, owner of Millennium Dance Studios, where Brit teaches and rehearses, explains exclusively to OK!. "She wants to have different kids in the class each time to give everyone a chance to have fun."
At a class on Feb. 25, the students, who range in age from 8 to 15, lined up and handed Britney little gifts of flowers, chocolates and homemade cards. "She was so touched," Robert remembers. "She thanked each child individually. It was kind of surreal and very cute."
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Robert tells OK! that the best part of each class comes at the end, when Britney plays a variety of dance games with her students. "One is called Freeze," he explains. "Everyone creates a circle and does a little dance step. Whoever gets off step has to stand in the circle. One time recently, she got off step but she didn't want to get into the circle, saying, 'Oh no, you guys! I'm not getting in the circle!'"
But with the students shouting back, "You got off step! You have to get in!" the pop star didn't have much of a choice. "The kids kind of revolted," says Robert. "It was very cute. And, of course she did it, and the kids went crazy laughing."
These lessons appear to be having a therapeutic effect on the mother of two. "Seeing her with these children, and then having these regular visits with her boys," Robert explains. "It's connecting the dots. I'm seeing a return to the old, loving Britney from before. She's really improving."
