Xyxy

Singing and dancing in the garage is one thing. Singing and dancing in a performance training center is another.

Puttin' on the Kidz, a children's performance group, started by local husband-and-wife entertainers Blaine Senior and Brandi Lee, has been putting on performances throughout the Las Vegas Valley for years, most recently a weekly Sunday gig at the Galleria at Sunset mall in Henderson.

The group has taken operations to a new level by moving into a 2,500-square-foot, fully-equipped studio at 6820 W. Sahara Ave.

"It's a much better facility than someone's garage, that's for sure," said Senior, who with his wife, serves as artistic director and choreographer. "There's more space, we've got the nice floating wood floors, and an actual stage for the kids to perform on."

Performance is the key to Puttin' on the Kidz. Senior blends singing and dancing into workshops that concentrate on live stage performance. Each training session concludes when the kids, who come from all over Las Vegas and range in age from 4 to 16, actually put on a show.

The group has been rehearsing in the studio for six weeks now, but has been performing at venues like the Casablanca showroom in Mesquite, the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park, the Starbright Theater in Summerlin and opening for magician Lance Burton at the Monte Carlo for the past two years.

In January, the family-run business gained more family and more business when Valerie Carpenter-Bernstein, president of the Nevada Theater Co. and mom to a Puttin' on the Kidz performer, came on board as president.

"Valerie and her husband wanted to take it further, to the next level, so we created a corporation out of it," Senior said.

Carpenter-Bernstein, a Los Angeles native, said she had always wanted to start such a group in Las Vegas, but when she came across Puttin' on the Kidz she realized it represented what local youth were interested in.

"This is what the kids want," she said. "They're not interested in putting on plays, they want to do what is on the scene now: the 'NSYNC and Britney Spears stuff. And getting it together and putting on a show gives them immediate gratification."

It's a lot easier to give the young performers gratification in a state-of-the-art studio.

"We always had a small group of kids come in consistently, but now that we've got the studio we've tripled our numbers," said Kay Garfield, another member of the Puttin' on the Kidz family, who manages the studio and performance bookings.

The group has grown to about 26 members in its big Saturday workshop.

"And when we get new kids, they're usually shy and reserved," Garfield said. "Here, they are impressed and it makes it easier for that interaction with the other kids to start."

And the "veteran" performers seem to like it, too.

"It's really fun here, and it feels more professional," said Danielle Usiak, 9, a student at Ober Elementary School. "I've been singing and dancing since I was 3, and I've never practiced in a place this nice before."

The Puttin' on the Kidz Performance Training Center offers a variety of workshops and training sessions, and is open to new members. Those interested can call 257-9116.