Printed in Downtown Express on September 5th, 2008.

Little girls in hot-pink and purple dresses and boys in pastel button-downs held bows as long and thin as their arms. Tiny violins, light as balsa wood, rested on their laps. Occasionally, a child fidgeted and the violin clattered to the ground.

On stage at Manhattan Children’s Theater in Tribeca, each young violinist took a turn standing by the piano, pressing the bow to the violin’s strings and making the beginnings of music before a crowd of video-camera-wielding parents. Most of the children were barely old enough to attend kindergarten. For many, the recital earlier this summer was their first public performance.

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FALL OPEN HOUSE

Normally anyone promising “Harvard prep for tots” makes this mom run the other way, but the copious offerings at this Tribeca membership-based “cultural learning center” consistently earn praise from pleased parents. Experience BabyMuscles, MiniSigners, Gym Rock, MiniBallet, Suzuki Violin, and more.

New York Kids

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Family Focus: Tribeca’s miniMasters

Coordinating summer activities for the entire family can be a bigger challenge than it is worth. One child has an art class in Soho, the other has piano lessons uptown — before long, parents are granted the unofficial job of chauffeur, spending every day catering to their kids’ busy summer schedules. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a place that kept everyone happy, including mom and dad? MiniMasters aims to do exactly that.

Opened two years ago in Tribeca, miniMasters is the only center in Manhattan that keeps the whole family in mind. “Our goal was to create a space that focuses on cultural education for the entire family,” Marie-France Greer, co-founder of miniMasters explains. “If you are a mom and you are running around, it is great to find one place where you can bring two or three of your children for one or more classes. It is a huge time saver.”

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Cool in Your Code is a hot new “infotainment” show on that brings you right into the hood to share what’s cool in the various zip codes throughout the city. Use this chart to find out what channel it is on in your area. miniMasters will be featured on the following days/times:

Tuesday Sept. 5th @ 8:30pm
Wednesday 6th @10pm
Saturday 9th @ 8:00pm

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New art school for tykes pampers parents, too

By alex schmidt
In the basement of the new miniMasters learning center in Tribeca, a woman in a white t-shirt and yellow rubber gloves cleans an already glimmering children’s art area. The white of the room is broken up by a few dabs of primary color in diminutive chairs that sit empty, for the moment, awaiting their first tiny sitters.

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It’s a Family Affair

Kids these days. Toddlers can TiVo and first graders can school you in a game of Halo.

But you agreed to babysit your pal’s mini-me, so now you have to think of something fun to do (that won’t garner raised eyebrows from the under-four-feet set).

Behold MiniMasters, a new state-of-the-art educational center in Tribeca that’s bent on entertaining kids and adults alike.

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Mini Mastery

On any given day, the city is humming with soccer moms transporting their busy little ones around town. Only instead of piloting a DVD-equipped SUV to a green field, they boldly carry strollers down into the subway, or pile kids bearing violin cases into the back of taxi cabs. From language classes at the Lycée, to art classes at a Soho gallery – it’s absolutely essential to expose the wee ones to all the opportunities out there.

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