Moving to a new upstairs location, Village Arts Center has expanded, and owner Stephanie Scaggs is both excited about the larger space and nervous about the increased financial responsibilities. ‘My overhead is so grand, I have to be inventive to pay the rent,’ she said, but after three years at her old space in the Washington Mutual building on Sunset, she felt ready to gamble. ‘I didn’t have a single window to open, and I wanted cross-breezes and ventilation,’ says Scaggs, who now has a skylight, windows, an additional bathroom and newly painted walls. Her space above Wachovia Bank (15230 Sunset) also features two separate rooms: a toddler area with a spongy-mat floor and a dance studio with a state-of-the-art spring floor. The added studio space enables Scaggs to add ballet and hip-hop classes for teenagers and adults in the evening, drawing on her previous experience: she graduated from SUNY Purchase with a bachelor of fine arts in dance and danced professionally in New York (while also working along the way as a massage therapist and wardrobe stylist for Tina Turner and Janet Jackson). Village Arts Center is known for imaginative classes that allow toddlers and young children full experimentation with the tactile senses. One recent day, two- and three-year-olds played ‘car wash,’ taking plastic play cars that had been ‘dirtied’ with paint and potting soil, and washing them with soapy water that splashed everywhere. Scaggs, 32, was entirely unconcerned about the mess and explained another favorite activity. ‘We put tarps on the floor or on the walls and let the children paint. Many parents like to bring their kids here because they don’t want a mess like this in the house.’ Three years ago, after moving to the San Fernando Valley from New York, Scaggs was working in Hawaii when she was contacted by Palisades clients, who told her that Village Arts was for sale and urged her to buy it. She bought the business sight unseen from Arthur Mortell (who was relocating his family to Washington), using an inheritance from her grandparents. Scaggs admits that she didn’t have a business background when she started and ‘I didn’t have a back-up plan.’ It turns out she didn’t need one, because with her guidance Village Arts continued to thrive. She expanded from having morning programs designed for younger children to include afternoon programs like ballet and music and movement. She currently has about 150 students, ages 2 to 8, and has added Palisades School of Dance to her business name. The ballet classes are age-specific. For example, princess ballet is for two- and three-year-olds who dress up in costume. ‘It’s socialized play,’ Scaggs admits, ‘but we’re also teaching them how to be in a ballet class.’ She teaches the children positions and posture through story telling using Andre, the ballet dog, and friend Froggy, who does yoga but gets everything all mixed up. For example, students try to make ballet legs, versus froggy legs, or Scaggs tells them that Andre has a tickle, which makes the dog tap her toe. As the students pattern themselves after Andre and start tapping, they naturally point their toes without being told. Scaggs finds this method more effective and entertaining for children than just asking them to assume ballet positions. The male version of the princess dance class is called drum and tumble, which allows ‘little boys to be boys,’ Scaggs says. She has also started a dance-based gymnastics class, noting that ‘in the dance world, you need to be able to tumble.’ Students are taught cartwheels, handstands and back handsprings. While expanding her dance program, Scaggs remains committed to the early-childhood classes, the youngest being for three- to nine-month-old infants and their parents. For the slightly older child, Scaggs says she supports ‘attachment’ parenting, which means that she welcomes parents who want to sit and watch. ‘They’re close by and involved, but don’t have to participate,’ she says. ‘Coming here is peaceful for them; they can just sit and relax.’ ‘Children in my class are under no pressure to do anything,’ Scaggs adds. ‘I tell them when they’re ready, they can join us. My motto is to have classes that are engaging and explore creativity, but we’re careful not to overstimulate. Kids leave in a balanced state.’ Scaggs lives in Santa Monica with her boyfriend of five years, Paul Kirkland, also a dancer, who is currently on tour with Madonna. For a schedule of classes, visit www.VillageArtsCenter.com or call (310) 454-4245.

Eighteen students in Rob Young’s elective class, Election 2008, held a Barack Obama-John McCain debate on Monday afternoon. The Calvary Christian sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students used talking points from the candidates’ speeches and cited past decisions that the men made as senators in order to present each side’s views. Individual students, acting as presidential candidates, were asked a question and responded, or if they felt unsure, they could tag off to another ‘McCain’ or ‘Obama.’ The first question was asked to McCain: ‘Why are you the better choice?’ The student posing as McCain answered, ‘There are many problems facing the United States, including the two wars and the financial crisis. I’m the better candidate because I have more experience in war and I have been in the Senate for 26 years. I have more leadership ability.’ The student portraying Obama was asked the same question and responded, ‘I know we’re in a difficult time right now, but I know how to fix things. In Iraq, we need a timetable to get us out and to keep us organized. I will give the middle class a tax break.’ As the moderator, Young challenged his students with questions like ‘Many would argue that in the struggle for hearts and minds around the world, the United States is losing. As president, what would you do to help America be liked more?’ After three months of discussing all aspects of the election, the students were up to the challenge and had answers for Young’s questions that parroted the candidates’ responses. After questions about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tax cuts, the economy, energy independence and foreign policy, the one-hour debate concluded with a reason why an individual candidate should be elected. The Obama portrayer said, ‘We need change. If we elect McCain we get four more years of Bush and we’re not going to make any progress.’ The Republican candidate responded, ‘I am not Bush. I am a maverick. I go beyond my party lines’with age is wisdom.’ The class was the brainchild of Young, who grew up in Pacific Palisades and was in law school at Tulane University in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck. He transferred to law school at the University of San Francisco for a year, but realized he wanted to be a teacher. ‘I’m applying for a master’s program that has a teaching credential,’ Young said. He works as a middle-school aid and coaches seventh- and eighth-grade football at the school, but when he had an opportunity to teach an elective last spring (and continuing this fall) he thought this class was timely. He helped students study famous elections and learn about the Electoral College, while having them focus on the issues.   ’I wanted them to leave their preconceived notions at the door and to be open and have respect for other’s opinions,’ Young said. ‘I wanted them to be able to decipher rhetoric from actual plans and then to ask questions about those plans.’ On Tuesday, Young took a straw poll. His students voted 11 to 7 in favor of Obama. Sixth-grade students Gigi Grasska and Katharine Bohlmann reported that when the entire school voted that day, the results were quite different: McCain won 212 to 132. Calvary Christian School sixth grader Cameron Sheldon was one of the nine students who portrayed Barack Obama in a mock debate with John McCain. Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer

Rev. Edward Brandt, pastor of Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church, previously lived and worked in Delaware, where he was a pastor in the 161st Signal Brigade of the Delaware National Guard. His unit has been called into active duty and is now training in Ft. Bliss, soon to deploy to Iraq.   We received the following e-mail from Rev. Brandt early Wednesday morning: ‘I watched the presidential election returns like I normally do every four years, but this year two things were different: 1) I am at Ft. Bliss, TX; and 2) I watched the returns with my roommate, Beau Biden, who happens to now be the son of the Vice-President Elect. About 15 people crowded into a room built for five; we shared food, munchies and soda. We watched the returns come in state by state and Beau excused himself several times to go outside and talk with his dad and family. The highlight of the night was President-Elect Barack Obama calling Beau (and the soldiers in the room) and giving him a rousing Hoooah!! What an historic night!’