For ten weeks students in six San Jose elementary schools were instructed in a variety of ethnic dances. The schools came together for a culminating event on November 18, 2004 at Montgomery Theater in downtown San Jose. This year’s participants include Anne Darling Elementary (Chinese Dance), Windmill Springs (Aztec Dance),  Olinder School (Bhangra Dance), Escuela Popular (Folklorico Dance), Sherman Oaks (African Dance) and McKinley Elementary (Greek Dance).

The goal of the program is to teach youngsters about diverse cultures through the universal languages of the arts.  The dance artists teach the students about the history, music and traditions of their ethnicity through dance.  Native musicians accompany the students in their performances and authentic costumes add to the experience.  The schools are selected based on a needs assessment which determines which schools are underserved in the area of dance, which have an ethnic diversity which would benefit from this program and which schools have the physical facility to support the program.  The schools may choose the ethnicity they wish to study.  It is recommended that they select an ethnicity other than the predominant one of the student body.  Lessons are based on the California State Framework for the Visual and Performing Arts and assessed in accordance with the State Standards for Arts Education.

What a wonderful night of cultural dance!  The performance at Montgomery Theater went extremely well and the kids really enjoyed performing for their family members and teachers.  It is hard to believe that over 150 students took part in this great program and were exposed to such wonderful instructors, musicians, culture and history.  The students learned so much about the culture they were studying and were able to understand even more why they were doing certain movements because of the history behind them.  Many of our students were able to bring some of this information back to the classroom and apply to different subjects such as history, social studies and even geography!