Still riding on the success of the documentary “Mad Hot Ballroom” and the popular dance movie “Take the Lead,” classrooms at the Kapa‘a Middle School were transformed into a ballroom for two sixth-grade classes for their own ‘mad hot’ salsa
Still riding on the success of the documentary “Mad Hot Ballroom” and the popular dance movie “Take the Lead,” classrooms at the Kapa‘a Middle School were transformed into a ballroom for two sixth-grade classes for their own ‘mad hot’ salsa lessons.
Member of the YMCA North Shore Ballroom Dance Class Donna Schulze came up with the idea of bringing the dancing to Kapa‘a Middle School after watching her 9-year-old granddaughter from Utah demonstrate what she learned at her elementary school.
“I saw her do that and I was amazed so I said, ‘why not bring it to the schools here?’” Schulze said.
She asked her fellow ballroom dancers if they’d be willing to sponsor their ballroom dancing teacher Susie Ayers and pay for her to teach the two sixth-grade classes at the middle school.
They all agreed to do it, said Schulze. She contacted the school and set everything up.
The sixth-grade classes were treated to six weeks of dancing lessons. The last class ended yesterday.
Kapa‘a Middle School teacher Janet Tanigawa also learned the dances so she could repeat the lessons for the students.
The response and results from the instruction have been remarkable, said Schulze, and the male students have excelled in their ability to lead the dances with female students.
Schulze would visit the classes to see how they were doing.
They really enjoyed the salsa music, Schulze said.
