The Ballroom Bonus

January 22, 2016

“Will dance keep them away from some of these negative things? I do believe that, and that’s why I teach.”

February 04, 2014

"Barbara Mcomber began teaching ballroom at Barratt Elementary four years ago. She said the ballroom program comes from a marriage between the Danzinskule education foundation and Alpine School District. She was amazed to see how the program has grown. Mcomber said in the early days they had to scramble to get enough boys to join the class and now they have 55 students ranging from fourth to sixth grade."

September 08, 2016

" Arts-integrated curriculum increases student engagement and makes learning fun. . . . Teachers have found that test scores and retention have improved in schools that participate in the program. Perhaps more importantly, teachers have found that children have become more enthusiastic about learning and have fewer behavior problems because they are completely engaged in the discovery and learning that is happening."

April 28, 2016

"Hightower's dance career began when she was 9 and her family moved into the boundaries of the only elementary school in the United States with a ballroom dance program.

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'I think I realized at a young age ... that I was meant to be in that ballroom program, and I was meant to find dance,' Hightower said. 'I felt like … the Lord was opening doors for me and guiding my path, and I’ve felt like dance was a part of that path since I was 9 years old.'"

March 06, 2013

"Ballroom provides healthy physical activity, which not only exercises the body, but enhances coordination, rhythm and music appreciation of all styles. Learning skills are enhanced from memorizing movement combinations. Ballroom dance is a lot of fun for youth, allowing them to make friends and interact in a constructive and positive way with members of the opposite sex." 

April 11, 2006

"Teenagers all over Utah Valley are joining school-sponsored ballroom dance teams and classes, a growing trend in Utah public high schools."

November 14, 2016

"'The most beautiful thing about ballroom to me is the fact that it takes two people working together for a common goal,' described Kayci. 'It takes a man and a woman in ballroom to together make something more whole and complete. It’s not that I’m doing 50 percent of the work or he’s doing 50 percent. We’re each doing 100 percent of our own role, and together it makes something even more beautiful.'"

March 12, 2015

"'I started in the seventh grade,' Aubrey said. 'They were giving PE credit for dance so I dragged my twin brother into it. It is awesome.'"

March 19, 1999

“In no other sport do boys learn to be young men and girls learn to be young ladies."

April 12, 2006

"Almost more important than the dance steps, Cox said, is the focus on etiquette, especially at the beginning of the year. . . . The children must escort their partners onto the floor and their teachers call them ladies and gentlemen.

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'I truly believe that the attitudes of the kids have gotten so much better since the beginning of the year,' Cox said."

March 26, 2013

"Anika Baker, 10, and Carter Williams, 11; and Jacob Murillo and Sydney Tormey, both 14, will travel to England this week to compete in the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival. The eight-day festival, considered the world's most significant international ballroom dance competition, has been held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens since 1920."

March 27, 2011

"This isn't the first year that Lone Peak's Ballroom Dance Team has placed nationally, but this year it is a particularly impressive accomplishment. Half of the team members last year were seniors and so many of the dancers this year were new to ballroom dancing."

November 30, 2015

"For the first time in the history of Utah State University, a student in a wheelchair has joined the ballroom dance class. Not only does she participate in the classroom activities, but she also participates in competitions as well."

December 15, 2014

“But I can guarantee you when you walk off that floor you will be the one team that left everything out there. And you will feel good about what you did." 

November 24, 2016

"After almost a decade of marriage, I convinced my husband to take ballroom dance classes with me and the reality was very different from my fantasy. Ballroom dancing was hard and that is why I think about it when I teach new concepts to students and especially when I am helping my own son with his homework."

December 13, 2016

"'At first I didn’t want to, but she didn’t have a partner so I had to go with her. Now I feel cool with her,' said 11-year-old Edwin Acosta, Naashia’s dance partner."

January 27, 2014

"Practicing with peers has also changed the way the classmates relate to each other . . . Michael Fuller said he’s found it hard not to like those he’s danced with. 'You’re both laughing and blushing at the fact that you’re dancing together,” he said. 'You can’t bully someone you dance with,' Pryor added."

December 21, 2006

"Wescott said that teaching the students twice a week has become the highlight of her week.

'They are amazing,' she said. 'They are so good. They are fun and they love it.'"