Seven-year-old Veronica Boggie of West Roxbury dreams of being a tap dance instructor when she grows up and one local business is helping make that dream a reality.

Saturday morning, Boggie, the winner of Centre Stage Dancewear First Annual Dance Scholarship contest picked up her dancing gear to get ready for the lessons.

The scholarship, sponsored by Centre Stage Dancewear, provided Boggie with leotards, two pairs of tap shoes and ballet slippers from Centre Stage Dancewear; and a semester of dance lessons that Boggie will take at Tanya?s Dance Center in Dedham on Saturdays. Centre Stage will outfit her again for the school?s recital in June.

Veronica is a second grade student at the Patrick Lyndon School. She lives in West Roxbury with her three sisters, Marie, Margaret and Judith, her four brothers, Kevin, James, Michael and Daniel, her mother Maureen and father William.

Veronica?s elementary school teacher Karen Graham inspired Veronica?s interest in dancing by bringing in her favorite Christmas gift, a pair of tap shoes, to show her first grade class. Veronica tried them on and has dreamed of dancing ever since.

"It looks really fun and I was really great at it the first time I did do it and my teacher in my school, she showed us how to tap and all the kids tried. I was a natural at it," Veronica said. "One day when I came home from the Lyndon, (my mom) said ?Can I talk to you for a minute Veronica? I found a contest that you could get a dance scholarship from and you could try and win the contest.?"

For the next two nights, Veronica worked hard on her essay, receiving help from her mother.

"Why I Want To Dance," she wrote in the essay. "When I was in first grade, my teacher told me about the best gift she got for Christmas - tap shoes. She let us try them on. She showed us a few steps. Ever since then I?ve wanted to tap dance. I think about it all the time."

The letter goes on to say she?s the sixth of eight children and her mother wants to send her to tap lessons, but they cost too much.

With such a large family, Maureen said it?s impossible to give her children everything they ask for.

"With such a big family, we can?t let them do everything they want. I really knew this would be a great opportunity for her to take those dance lessons that she had her heart set on," Maureen said. "Veronica is going to Tanya?s Dance School in Dedham and they have been absolutely lovely. It?s just been a really positive experience. She?ll have a recital sometime in June."

Alexis Smith Hamdan, owner of Centre Stage Dancewear, created the scholarship.

"It just seemed to be the right thing to do. Economics is an issue. I know lots of families that would like to do more with their kids and costs are an issue. I just thought it would be nice to help a child wgo wouldn?t otherwise be able to take a class," Smith said. "There were often times in my life where I got to take classes on scholarship and that was always helpful."

Smith said she was inspired to create the scholarship when she opened the store in March of last year and that Kelly Tynan, Executive Director of Main Streets, helped her send out hundreds of applications to public schools across Boston and to various dance studios.

"We got a lot of heartfelt responses. I would just read these essays and some of them made me cry. Veronica?s essay indicated she hadn?t had any opportunity to take classes," Smith said. "The form went out to the entire city to all the schools. It was for the greater Boston area. It was open to any child, not just in West Roxbury."

Smith hopes her gift to Veronica will have a lasting effect on the young girl.

"I hope that she falls in love with dance and continues dancing for as long as it makes her happy," she said.

Centre Stage Dancewear will begin accepting applications for the 2nd Annual Scholarship in September. Local children, ages 5 to 18, are encouraged to apply.