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“I thought this would be new and different,” 12-year-old Kessler said.
It has been, and for the past three months, Kessler and 21 of her Placerita classmates have learned how to ballroom dance.
They’ve picked up the waltz, cha-cha, merengue, tango and samba during their twice-a-week class. At home, they practice their dance moves with an instructional DVD.
“I’ve made a lot of different friends and met a lot of new people,” Kessler said during a dress rehearsal Wednesday.
On Saturday, Kessler, who specializes in the cha-cha, will join her classmates when they show off their newfound dance skills during the High Desert Dance Clinic in Lancaster.
Placerita is the only school in the William S. Hart Union High School District to participate in the Dancing Feet Youth Ballroom program, which is based out of the Antelope Valley. The school took first in the competition last year.
In its second year at Placerita, the after-school class has doubled to 22 students. The 11 couples have been split into two teams with one couple designated as an alternate. Each couple will be judged on their routine during the competition.
“Most of (the students) have never had the experience of ballroom dancing,” said Placerita physical education teacher Kristin Burrill, who teams up with dance teacher Tammi Sucheck to teach the class. The two teachers learned the dances in November before offering tryouts for the teams in January.
Along with picking up professional dance skills, the students learn about dance etiquette, respect and teamwork, she said.
The students enjoy the creativity and freedom dancing gives them.
“I like that it’s really energetic,” seventh-grader Kevin Lemus said. “It gets you out there and shows who you are.”
