Heathcote fifth graders held a ballroom dance performance on the evening of March 15th. The event was the culmination of a 10-week ballroom dance program lead by instructor Rodney Lopez who was featured in the documentary film Mad, Hot Ballroom.

The Dancing Classrooms program was started in one school by Mr. Pierre Dulaine, a world champion ballroom dancer. The program is now in over 200 schools reaching over 28,000 children.

The mission of the program is to build social awareness, confidence and self-esteem in children through the practice of social dance. Children are taught a syllabus of traditional ballroom dances in a learning environment that fosters respect, teamwork, confidence, and politeness. They emerge as “ladies and gentlemen” with a renewed sense of joy, accomplishment and elegance.

The ballroom dance classes are part of the school day and are provided as a way to enrich the academic learning experience. Classes were conducted with individual classes twice a week, for ten weeks, and taught the students about the history and cultures of the Merengue, Foxtrot, Rumba, Tango, Swing, and Waltz.

Thanks to Heathcote Fifth Grade Teacher Lisa Onofri for the text and Jon Thaler for the photos. More images can be found at www.JonThaler.com.