1st Place Tango goes to Skally and Kevin!

Lancaster – At the Van Dam Pavilion early in the day Saturday, February 27 Skally and Kevin danced the Tango at the Annual Dancing Feet Youth Ballroom Dance “Elementary Elegance Event”. Dancers from schools all over the Antelope Valley competed in various dance step categories and at 5th-6th grade and 7th-9th grade levels. Taking top billing in the 5th-6th grade Tango was Skally Sandoval and Kevin Flores seen here with their medals.

In addition to medals, Challenger Middle School took the Spirit Trophy for the 7th-8th grade level. Teacher Donna Revalee brought the trophy to class Monday March 1 for all to see. After school Donna has been teaching Challenger Middle School students ballroom dancing techniques and skills all of which paid off with several awards on Saturday, February 27 at the Annual Dancing Feet Youth Ballroom Dance Competition. The event was held at the Van Dam Pavilion on the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds in front of hundreds of parents, guardians, family members and friends.

Donna told her students, “This trophy belongs to all of you. This trophy belongs to our school. We will put it in a place of honor for everyone to see. There are many reasons why we were awarded this trophy. For one thing we travel the furthest to be in this program. The other schools are mostly centrally located. Linda Chesnutt (owner of the Dancing Feet Program) is so happy to have us in her group. You all have been cheerful, happy, working hard doing a great job. It has not always been easy for you but you stayed dedicated to the team, your parents supported us and we thank them for everything, we have had good attendance from you guys for fund raisers and our numbers have increased and doubled from previous years. We hope more kids will join us. We also came from behind, remember? We started one full month behind all the other schools. Some of you missed some practices because you also cheer and play basketball. We have been invited by Superintendent Teri Grey to perform for our School Board at their next meeting!”

The ballroom dance program was developed as an after school program. This program provides focus on etiquette, good manners, and the history of dance, dance fundamentals and drills. The Dancing Feet Program is designed for 5th through 8th grade students. Dancing Feet uses the train-the-trainer methodology in the program. Teachers do not have to be dancers to participate in the program. Fortunately Donna has been a dancer. Donna has been dancing since the age of four. She attended dance classes up to August of 2014. She was with a dance company for two years called Oui Geometer out of El Camino College in Torrance. Donna explained, “I love to dance. That’s who I am. It is for me joy and freedom. It gives me strength.” Donna also teaches exercise programs for the Lake LA Park Zumba and exercise classes.