The Spirit of Giving Through Dance

Birmingham, Ala. (Dec. 23, 2024) — Olivia Ulbricht is two and a half years old. Her mother describes her as a toddler with a fiery attitude and sassy. She also calls her a little miracle. But if you ask Olivia what she wants you to know about her, she will say she wants you to know she’s a dancer.

Tiffany Ulbricht, Olivia’s mom, says she became interested in dance from birth.

“She always just loved music and would always move to it,” said Ulbricht. “We always had music at the house, so she would always have dance parties with her and her cousins.”

Over the summer, Tiffany enrolled Olivia in a Mommy and Me Dance class. They attended one class before Olivia became sick and was hospitalized at Children’s of Alabama. 
 

“One day, I noticed that my sister had posted pictures of the first day of dance for my nieces, and I mentioned to our child life specialist that Olivia should have been in those pictures,” said Ulbricht.
 

That conversation sparked an idea never done at Children’s, a dance class.
 

“Olivia is a little dancer, so when Tiffany mentioned that they were not getting to do their mother-daughter ballet class, this was just an opportunity for me to set this up so she can still have that experience even though she is in the hospital, said Kassidy Kleinow, a child life specialist at Children’s of Alabama.

Kassidy enlisted the help of a Children’s of Alabama volunteer who knows about dance. Natalie Sestili says she started dancing when she was as young as Olivia.
 

“I grew up in the dance studio,” said Sestili. “I did dance in high school, and then I was able to dance at the collegiate level with the UAB Golden Girls, Birmingham Stallions, and the Universal Dance Association. I have spent my whole life dancing around the country, and I have been able to teach dance at my home studio.”
 

Natalie says she did not hesitate to teach Olivia dance because she knew it would bring her great joy.
 

“I think the classes have really impacted Olivia and her family in a positive way,” said Sestili. “You can see her joyous smile when she has on her dance outfit, and everyone’s faces light up when they see her in it.”

Tiffany says the dance classes give them something to look forward to every week. She also says the classes have helped her and the medical team encourage Olivia to do some of her more challenging tasks. They started a buck system where Olivia could earn bucks to buy prizes at the end of the week, including her entire ballet outfit. Tiffany says on the first day of class, she and her husband watched her dance, and both had tears in their eyes.

“She just gets so excited, she just smiles, and she’s a pure joy to watch during these classes,” said Ulbricht. “It’s nice to see her do a regular two-year-old activity that she would be doing outside of the hospital if we were not here, so it is nice to have a sense of normalcy, even if it is just for a few minutes.”
 

Kleinow says it means a lot to the families to have activities like this while their loved ones are in the hospital.
 

“It gives them a chance to do things that they would be doing at home but can’t,” said Kleinow. “I think it really gives the whole family something to provide hope as they take these steps on their journey at the hospital.”
 

Tiffany says she appreciates everyone at Children’s for not only what they have done to help Olivia with her medical journey but also for her and her husband. In the meantime, you can find Olivia walking up and down Children’s of Alabama halls, dancing.