Local School Students to Compete in Ballroom Dance Team Match Teams from Three Elementary Schools Take the Stage in Boyle Heights
Students from Boyle Hts. Elementary Schools in LAUSD will vie for the ballroom dance trophy: 10 a.m., Monday, June 14 the Black Box Theater, Central Los Angeles Visual & Performing Arts High School #9, 450 N. Grand Ave. Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, CA, June 11, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Thirty talented 5th graders celebrate the culmination of their ten-week Ballroom MADNESS school dance program as they represent their schools in the Ballroom MADNESS Elementary School Team Match. The young dancers, students from First Street, Second Street and Breed Street Elementary Schools in the L.A. Unified School District, will vie for the coveted trophy. The event, 10 a.m., Monday, June 14, will be held at the Black Box Theater, Central Los Angeles Visual & Performing Arts High School #9, 450 N. Grand Ave. Los Angeles. The public is encouraged to attend and admission is free of charge.
Judges for the team match include three-time Emmy winner George Pennacchio who is the premier entertainment reporter for ABC7 Eyewitness News, host of ABC7's Evening at the Academy Awards pre- and post-shows and Thalians board member.; veteran actor of film, TV and Broadway theatre, Joshua Bitton, recently seen as J.P. Morgan in the HBO mini-series, "The Pacific"; and choreographer/actor Jordi Caballero, an American Choreography Award and MethodFest Film Festival nominee who has worked with Madonna, Cher, Macy Gray, and Jennifer Lopez as well as on top TV shows including "Dancing with the Stars."
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"I know how dance positively enriched my life and I wanted to offer children an opportunity to express their creativity in a setting that fosters respect, teamwork and accomplishment, 'one step at a time', said Jane Dorian, the group's executive director and co-founder." I was compelled to create Ballroom MADNESS when I observed a family at lunch—each member was plugged into some electronic device. I thought 'why don't they connect to each other?'."
Dorian and co-founder Daniel Ponickly, created the arts education program two years ago from their shared passion for dance. Dorian, a founding member of Center Dance Arts at the L.A.'s Music Center, danced in the national company of "Hello Dolly" and numerous films and television shows. Ponickly taught dance in New York's inner city public schools and was a Senior Teaching Artist with American Ballroom Theater's "Dancing Classrooms Program," the group profiled in the documentary, "Mad Hot Ballroom."
"Our program is great for all students," said Ponickly, "but it is especially gratifying when we can serve urban kids—teaching them social and partnership skills, while providing them with a positive alternative to gangs and street-life."
The duo train a corps of dance teachers who work with the kids in the structure and familiar environment of their regular classroom during their school day. Twice a week in a one-hour session, the kids dance meringue, foxtrot, rumba, tango, swing and waltz. The students, who study the geography and cultures of the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Cuba, Eastern Europe and the U.S., write essays about their first impressions and finally, what they learned throughout the program, giving them an appreciation for a much larger world.
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Ballroom MADNESS is a nonprofit organization that brings ballroom dance to under-served school children. A truly transformative experience, Ballroom MADNESS fosters respect and teamwork in classmates by teaching them to work together to build a solid foundation of trust and partnership. The program provides students with a creative and expressive artistic outlet within an environment that is safe and constructive, during school hours. Since its inception in 2007, more than 600 children in 12 Southern California schools have been inspired to be the best at something— they have learned they are important and that their actions matter. For more information visit www.BallroomMadness.org or contact Jane Dorian at jane@janedorian.com.

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