IN THE KITCHEN WITH: Diana Byrne

Everyone knows Miss Diana; Rec department program works with children and parents together, By Rose Sgarlato Diana Byrne’s reputation precedes her. Ask any mother in town about the toddler classes offered at the Sparta Recreation Department and more than likely she will respond “you have to take Miss Diana’s class.” For the past 11 years, Byrne has been the instructor of parent and child classes called Giggle Time. She also teaches the Storybook Show class where 4- to 6-year-olds work on all the aspects of putting on and performing in a production. Her love and passion for interacting with people has led to more than just Main Street. “My goal is for each child to feel special. Their smiles make me smile,” said Byrne. “When children come in, they are so young at 2 to 3 years old — it is beautiful to watch them be themselves while they learn to follow structure and participate.” Although Byrne has an early childhood education degree and taught pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes before having her own children, she looks at this experience as being unique: “With the rec program, you work with parents and children together. I enjoy watching the parents as they see their child grow and achieve. As a mother, I see it and understand it. It’s all my own program which I developed based on my experience as a teacher.” For the past seven years, Byrne has become an avid dancer. She takes four different classes three times a week mostly at Ziegler Dance Centre in Vernon. “I do jazz, hip-hop. I do all the recitals,” she explains. Occasionally, she will head to Manhattan to take a class at Broadway Dance Center. “My passion and outlet is to perform. After I had my third child, I started to feel the need to do something. Because of my love of dance, it has opened doors for me.” And those doors would be in New York City where she has performed in several off-off Broadway plays most notably downtown in Greenwich Village and Soho. At 38 years old, Byrne’s life went in a new direction towards the big stage. “I knew a director through my aunt. I went to a rehearsal and they wanted to see if I could keep up with the other dancers and I could,” she explains. That was with a production called Fragments in 2007; from then on, it was networking and hard work that got Byrne more jobs. “Sometimes I am a volunteer. I usher and assist house managers at several different venues. Presently I am in the cast at the Merchant House Museum in New York City. We are doing ghost tours and it runs though Halloween weekend,” Byrne said. And she has also performed locally at the Cornerstone Playhouse and enjoys dancing with her 11-year-old daughter Tricia at the recitals “As I run around, being a busy mom, wife, teacher, dancer, performer, I really am doing what I love,” she said. And when asked about how all this is managed: “My husband Kevin and I are a team. We are there for each other. He is very supportive.” A perfect day for Byrne would be to wake up and see her children happy and of course to take dance classes all day long. “To be able to get out and do something that you love makes you a happy person. It’s a neat world. Through dance, theatre and the arts — it all has evolved. And my goal is to bring a little of this to my classroom.”

Play Dough Recipe
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
food coloring
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.
Cook on high and stir until a dough forms.
Remove from heat, cool. Knead, roll, play, enjoy.