Without a single word, a 4-year-old girl from across a parking lot connected with a university student through a shared love of music and dance. It was caught on video and posted on Instagram, generating comments like, “Cuteness overload!” and “Baby girl hit all the moves too!!”
Mikaella Steward, a junior at Bowie State University and captain of the Bowie State Sensations color guard team, was performing with the school’s Symphony of Soul at Georgetown Hill Early School’s Darnestown campus last month.
Four-year-old Kinsey Disher, a student enrolled in the Pre-K program at Georgetown Hill, was watching and then imitating Steward’s every move.
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In an interview with WTOP, Steward said she instantly noticed that the little girl was following along with the performance. And the two began a little exchange of smiles, with Steward altering the routine, ever so slightly.
“I decided to make my moves slightly easier to see if she could really catch on to what I was doing,” said Steward, and the little girl did. “It was just the cutest little thing ever!” she said.
After the performance, the Bowie State students spent some time with the schoolchildren, who got to learn about Bowie State, Maryland’s oldest historically Black university, and about the instruments in the band as part of their music instruction.
Steward said as soon as the performance ended, Kinsey made a beeline for her, giving her a hug and holding onto her hand. “This is a prime example of ‘you never know who’s looking up to you,'” she said.
Steward, who called the experience heartwarming, said she was thrilled to see that the exchange had been caught on video and posted on Instagram.
So was Disher’s mom, Christie, who said Kinsey just loves to dance, and that when she came home from school that day, she was bubbling over with enthusiasm about the experience.
“She said that a band came. And that they were so pretty and awesome, and she loved dancing with them,” said Disher with a laugh.
Disher said she appreciated the time that the Bowie State students took with the children at her daughter’s school.
The visit had been arranged as part of the school’s celebration of Black History Month, and Chelsea Rose, assistant director of the Darnestown campus, explained the connection — she’s a Bowie State University alumna.
Rose said the Instagram post seemed to strike a chord with lots of people.
“In such a racially-sensitive society and culture right now, it was so nice just to kind of put some light and some warmth into the atmosphere,” she said.
Steward explained that she loved her time with the children at the Darnestown school, especially because she’s majoring in early childhood education.
When told that Steward hopes to go into a career working with children, Disher said “Oh, wow! That’s amazing!” and said it was just so great seeing her little girl dance with joy and “seeing the world through kids’ eyes.”
