June 22, 2009

Having a Ball

Students in New York City compete in a ballroom dancing competition

By Brenda Iasevoli

Students from nine schools in New York City competed in the Colors of the Rainbow ballroom dancing finals on Saturday. The fourth and fifth-graders shook their hips, twirled and sashayed across the stage. In the end, students from PS 128, in Manhattan, danced away with the top prize.

JOE CORRIGAN—MANHATTANSOCIETY.COM The winners: students from PS 128 display the top prize.

"The children worked so hard," says Lissette Ureña, a fifth-grade teacher at PS 128. We practiced after school three times a week. We even practiced during a field trip the day before the competition!"

PS 128 is in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in upper Manhattan. The school has participated in the ballroom program for four years. This was their second trip to the finals. Last year, the school won silver. This year, the students' first-place win scored them a trophy that towered over their heads.

Dance and Life Lessons

Former ballroom champion Pierre Dulaine started the nonprofit Dancing Classrooms program in 1994. It brings ballroom dancing to nearly 35,000 students in 14 cities around the country. By December, the program will expand to 20 cities. There are also programs in Canada and Switzerland.

In 20 lessons over the course of 10 weeks, kids learn a variety of dances, including the tango, merengue, foxtrot, rumba and swing. "This program isn't just teaching dance," Dulaine told TFK. "We are teaching life skills. We are teaching confidence and teamwork. Children are learning to respect each other."

Rodney Lopez has been an instructor for Dancing Classrooms for eight years. He taught the children at PS 128 and other schools in New York. Lopez says that he often sees a dramatic improvement in students' dancing skills. He also sees personal growth.

During the first lesson, Lopez says, it can be difficult to get kids to hold hands, let alone dance together. But that wasn't an issue with PS 128 students. "PS 128 is a special school," he told TFK. "The children already had an appreciation for art, dance and other cultures. So what I saw with PS 128 students was a greater refinement of the skills that they already possessed."

Julio Puente, a fifth-grader from PS 128, is glad he participated in the program. He said it taught him "elegance and manners."

Mad Hot Competition

Filmmakers captured the grueling citywide competition in the 2005 documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom." The documentary, which starred Dulaine, followed kids from three schools in New York City as they prepared for and competed in the contest.

BRENDA IASEVOLI FOR TIME FOR KIDS

This year, nine schools reached the finals. The schools out-danced more than 175 schools to get there. Each team was represented by a color. The girls wore their team's color on their sashes and the boys on signs pinned to their backs.

As host, the lively Dulaine kept the crowd of hundreds of parents, teachers and students cheering with his shouts of, "Which color?" The crowd erupted as the dancers struck poses in the tango or danced cheek to cheek.

All Winners

In the end, Dulaine comforted the children who did not win first place. "Does it make you a bad dancer if you don't win the big trophy?" He swung his hips back and forth—of course not! "Can you still shake it?" The children laughed and shouted, "Yes."

In addition to receiving a bronze, silver or gold ribbon, each child received a gift certificate to Macy's department store. Still, tears streamed down some of the children's faces. "Of course they feel disappointment," says the principal of PS 129, Marilyn Alesi. Her students won a silver ribbon. "But our students stood on the stage and they clapped for the winners. One girl even comforted the others saying, 'We made it this far, we should feel good.' I am so proud of them."

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