Dance classes teach teens the joy of this social ‘sport’

By Josie Kerk, Journal Intern | Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

It’s 7 o’clock, and the high school commons is still crowded with teenagers in jeans and hoodies, but instead of swinging book bags and balancing trays of food, the students are swinging and balancing each other to the beat of 1920s-era jazz.

Casually dressed, their faces are intent and their lips count out careful rhythms over the retro swing instruction of Heartland Dancing owner Debbie Ellerton. Within 30 minutes, a perspiring teenager props a door to let in a flow of wintry air.

Ellerton, who teaches through the city’s community education program, has been standing at the center ring of Rapid City high school dance classes for two years after a request from former Central student Peter Westlake for a program.

Ellerton teaches monthly classes of jitterbug, salsa, West Coast swing and nightclub two-step with her partner, Gordon Sabo, and is regularly hired to teach private groups.

Classes are held on carpeted floors, but many students accommodate this by wearing ballet slippers or simply losing their shoes.

“People are literally in their bare feet out there, except guys usually wear socks,” 18-year-old Stevens senior Lacey Uhre said.

The Monday night high school classes alternate monthly between Central and Stevens, costing students $2 for a 90-minute lesson. Extra practice time follows and is valuable for partner practice.

Ellerton believes the new, younger interest in couples dancing began with the growing popularity of Latin music in the past few years. Dancing goes hand in hand with what is popular on the radio she said.

Don’t be fooled by the names of the dances — jitterbug and swings can be done to rap too, she said.

“Kids always listen to 93.1. Any of the rap, any of the rock, can be done to West Coast Swing,” said Megan Olson, an 18-year-old at Stevens who has been dancing with Ellerton since 1998. “Every song has a rhythm you can use, you just need to be exposed to enough dance to know what it is.”

Attendance has grown swiftly since its beginning, and the dance floor is now crowded with more than 20 couples. Generally, there is a shortage of boys, but girls have learned to lead.

Each school has a dance coordinator who books the commons and encourages attendance.

“I was especially concerned when I heard it was a couples thing,” Central’s coordinator, Rebecca Myers, said. “But it turned out not to be, because we switch partners all the time, and nobody seems to be concerned about that.”

Myers plans to organize a dance to show off what students have learned. In the future, she would like to form a salsa club to compete with other schools throughout the nation.

Ellerton is particularly excited about what the recent performance of NFL football star Emmitt Smith in “Dancing with the Stars” means for the boy-to-girl ratio of her classes.

“Here we have this macho football player, this great big guy who wins the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ contest, and he has good rhythm and he has great moves on the dance floor. It shows the men out there that it isn’t so bad to be a dancer.”

Students often come to Ellerton in search of something more wholesome than dirty dancing. Ellerton teaches frame. You can’t dance well as a couple if you’re stumbling over each other’s feet, Ellerton said.

“There’s a lot of dance going on now, but sometimes it gets taken too far, and it isn’t a beautiful thing to watch anymore,” 16-year-old Stevens student Hannah Lehmann said.

Andrew Belsaas, a 16-year-old from Central who is one of Lehmann’s regular partners, agrees.

“In the tango, for instance, it’s a very close dance, but at the same time, it’s a more professional intimacy than simply grinding,” Belsaas said.

Students appreciate the combination of aerobic activity, social interaction and mental stimulation that lie within dance.

Dancing tones muscles, burns calories and increases flexibility, strength and balance. Students enrolled in an independent fitness class can use the dance classes for high school PE credit.

For many students, it is a safe and healthy emotional outlet, too. “It’s a good thing for teens to do. They’re not out partying or getting drunk, they’re socializing and staying active. It’s a really good thing in today’s society,” Belsaas said.

Scott Nelson, a freshman at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, sees it like any other sport. “It’s how far you push it,” Nelson said. “It makes me feel like an animal.”

Lehmann started taking the classes last year and has since hosted them in her home.

“I couldn’t get enough of it, so my mom actually had the idea to do it at our house — to fix up the playroom and do it up there,” Lehman said. “It gives it the dance club feel when there’s more people.”

A regular at Lehmann’s salsa parties, Stevens student Katie Aurand incorporated the traditional aspect of dance by hand-sewing colorful salsa skirts for the girls. Lehmann’s mom pitched in to make coordinating ties.

“I think the ties are awesome. We look beautiful,” said Stevens student Tanner Semerad, holding his tie while commenting that it is his first try at dance.

Students are invited to practice at a $5 couples dances in Viking Hall at Canyon Lake Senior Citizen Center. The dances runs from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the last Friday of each month, with a free half-hour lesson preceding at 7:30 p.m.

Ellerton teaches couples and singles dance classes at Canyon Lake Senior Citizen Center and can be contacted through her Web site, www.heartlanddancing.com or at 348-0863.