Roosevelt Students Bring Love of Dance to New Afterschool Program

Several dozen Roosevelt School students are taking their love of dancing from their living rooms to the stage as part of a new afterschool program sponsored by the New Professional Theatre.

The free weekly jazz dance program started last fall and will culminate in a performance at the public library and in the school talent show.

“I signed up because I love to dance,” student Kelly Cabrera said during a water break at a session in early April. “I always dance at my house. I love to get new moves.”

The New Professional Theatre is running programs in Ossining, Greenburgh, Peekskill and Bedford Hills, thanks to funding from the Thompson Family Foundation. Sheila Kay Davis, founder and artistic director of the New York City-based theater, said her goal is to expose children in northern Westchester County to the benefits of dance, including posture, confidence, collaboration, endurance, concentration and emotional well-being.

Mamie Duncan Gibbs, a veteran of eight Broadway shows, promised the fifth-graders Sour Patch Bunnies after the recent class if they did well, and led them through warm-up stretches. They practiced a dance routine that started with five girls doing cartwheels across the gymnasium floor, followed by other dancers joining in. “Kick ball change, kick ball change, step together step, turn to your right,” Ms. Gibbs said into her headset for one series of moves.

She told the fifth-graders to “pay attention to the little things because that’s what your audience is going to see.

“Habits that you develop in class, that’s what shows up on stage. Trust me. I’ve been doing it a long time,” she said.

Christopher Moracho, one of a handful of boys in the class, said music and dance go together. “Every time I hear music, I join in and dance,” he said.

Kasiah Myke said she also dances a lot at home, sometimes in the shower. She is enjoying the class. “Some of the moves you can’t get and you get mad, but then you get used to them and you get to know the routine better,” she said.