Covert students get "Mad Hot" at dance recital

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Upper elementary students at William S. Covert Elementary School fox-trotted and waltzed their way into the hearts of everyone that attended their Mad Hot Ballroom recital on Nov. 29.

The show was a culmination of a 20-week training program, with each fourth-and fifth-grade class dedicating one period a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays to learning different classical dances. Teachers were also required to participate in the performance.

“I loved it.,” said fourth-grade teacher Susan DeRosa. “The one thing that I loved about it was that (the students) were amazed that the teacher was doing it with them. The students saw us as dance partners. It creates a bond.”

But the education went beyond dancing as the students also learned etiquette, poise and how to escort their partners to the dance floor. Teachers added an educational angle by having the students write reflection essays on their training progress and some of them read short introductions to each dance during performance night.

Adding flavor of the event, the students were introducing as “ladies” and “gentlemen” instead of boys and girls.

DeRosa’s class started the show by performing the rumba, tango, and swing and Cindy Marasco’s class followed with the fox trot, merengue and waltz.

The fifth graders then took the floor. Mara Turchin’s class danced the foxtrot and salsa, Chris Zappia’s class performed the rumba and merengue and Joseph Gallina’s class closed the show with the waltz and tango.

“Everybody became a dancer,” DeRosa said.

The idea was inspired by the 2006 movie “Take the Lead”, starring Antonio Banderas as famed dance instructor Pierre Dulaine. In the film, Dulaine transformed a group of detention students into classical ballroom performers under his Mad Hot Ballroom program.

Covert principal Darren Raymar was inspired by the film and wanted to bring Dulaine’s program to his school. But the idea was immediately rejected by Mad Hot Ballroom because representatives there felt the program was more geared towards inner-city students.

Raymar remained persistent and eventually had a meeting with Dulaine. With the help of teachers Susan DeRosa and Chris Figaro, Dulaine relented and Covert became the first Long Island school to acquire Mad Hot Ballroom.

Nearby schools picked up on it and the sector eventually became known as the Dancing Classrooms of Long Island. But Covert still wanted to retain the program’s original name of Mad Hot Ballroom.

“It’s such a great experience,” said DeRosa. “I think it’s a really special program.”