Tiny Dancer

Meet Staci Unrau, a precocious six-year-old who spends her time playing on a swing set, rearranging her books, and—of course—taking dance classes. But as a child with Down syndrome, a chromosomal condition that causes physical and mental developmental delays, Unrau’s ballet lessons are all the more important: These classes combine learning pliés with strengthening muscles and building confidence. 5280’s Jeff Panis and Daliah Singer followed Unrau as she played at home and sashayed her way through the Colorado Ballet and Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s Be Beautiful Be Yourself Dance program.