They wear pink leotards, pink tights, pink skirts and pink ballet slippers.

Only black tap shoes deviate from their pretty-in-pinkness.

Andy Sharp/AJC (ENLARGE)

These small feet are making a beautiful motion in Cherokee.

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These nine tiny dancers ages 3 and 4 are learning the basics of ballet and tap in a weekly Creative Movement and Dance class at the Cherokee Recreation & Parks Agency center.

"They learn coordination, rhythm and balance," said teacher Rebeccah Keeton.

They've also picked up a little "shuffle step" in tap and have a good command of ballet's first position before entering the first grade.

While the girls may look like little ballerinas, they think they're princesses.

Miranda King, who is 3 1/2, even brought a princess wand to class last week.

"Of course, she's a princess," said Miranda's grandmother Linda Ricke. "I think she likes the idea of the costume and the sparkles. It's a little girl's dream."

Keeton makes sure to play a different Disney princess song each week so the girls can sing along.

They don't know, though, if one day their prince will come.

Boys would be welcome in class — and excluded from the "wear pink tights" rule — but none has signed up.

If a boy came, Keeton would adjust the lesson.

"They don't have to do the same fluff," she said.

In the meantime, the girls do their tippy-toe turns in the 45-minute class. They also learn dances using sticks, scarves and hula hoops while Keeton teaches them simple French words for dance moves.

Miranda is proud of what she's already accomplished.

"I learned to do ballet," she said.

Annie Axelsson, who is 4, thinks she's going to be just like the ballerinas she saw in "The Nutcracker," said her mom, Ericka.

Annie can't quite get up on her toes, but she can sing and dance to "Funny little bunny with the hop, hop, hop."

Adults aren't allowed in the room during class and take turns peeking through two narrow windows in the door.

They'll get to see the girls perform at a recital May 22. Creative Movement and Dance, which has programs across the metro area, will provide the tutus.

Delia Halverson said her 4-year-old twin granddaughters, Lea and Mya, have developed poise.

"They're born dancers," Halverson said.

She and Ricke will sign their granddaughters up for another three-month session when this one ends.

"They'd kill us if we didn't," Ricke said.

But Annie and her best friend, Samantha Pascoe, probably won't join them.

Their dads are signing them up next for soccer.