Merrick students dance their way around the world

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“Let’s do the Big Apple!”

After shouting the phrase, students from Arlene Musnik’s third-grade class at Birch Elementary School in Merrick broke into the 30s-era swing dance of the same title. Girls wore flapper dresses and boys wore suspenders with suit pants to emulate a time in American History when the dance was popular. On March 16, each of the third-grade classes at Birch Elementary School performed a routine from a different time and place as part of the school’s first World Cultural Dance.

Musnik brought the showcase to Birch after seeing it at another school on Long Island. The Parent Teacher’s Association agreed to sponsor it and Musnik reached out to Vanaver Dance Caravan, a Hudson Valley-based touring dance/music company that offers programs at schools. Under the direction of Livia Vanaver, classes at Birch were assigned a country/time period for which they choreographed a routine with live music and authentic costumes.


Sherri Millevoi, whose class performed an Irish step dance, said, “We study communities around the world, why not bring [the World Cultural Dance] here?”

Vanaver explained to the students that immigrants come to America and bring more than just food, but dances that are just as important to their cultures. “A lot of the dances we’re performing from different countries, we learn right here,” she said.

Additional dances performed included a Brazilian samba routine and a ceremonial Chinese ribbon dance complete with a giant, dragon costume.