Meet Karsen Gresham

Meet Karsen Gresham, a fourth-grader at Mountain Island Elementary who loves to dance.

Karsen dances a lyrical piece
at a competition this year.
Photo courtesy Debbie Gresham

She's good at it too: Just this year, she won more than 16 first-place awards at national and regional competitions.

Karsen, 9, has been dancing since she was two, and while she does ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and hip-hop dance, her favorites are lyrical and jazz. 

She just finished up dancing in the North Carolina Dance Theatre's "Nutcracker," where she danced as a mouse and Chinese dancer.

She's looking forward to participating in her second ballet workshop at the North Carolina Dance Theatre this summer, and, she dreams of someday being a professional dancer.

Kids play harps before Charlotte Symphony Lollipops Concert

Students from the Suzuki Class of the Roth Harp Studio in Lake Wylie recently proved playing the harp is not a dying art.

"After I retired as principal harpist with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, my dream was to have my students performing in the lobby before the Lollipops concerts," wrote Bette Roth in an email.

Five children, between ages 6 and 9, fulfilled that wish this November in the Knight Theater lobby before the Charlotte Symphony Lollipops Concert began.

Other children attending the concert had the chance to try playing as well.

The students pictured above, from left to right: Alex Violante, 8, Ava Nicoletti, 7, Sebastian Mitchell, 9, Jordy Cole, 9, and Elisabeth Mitchell, 6.