Dance class a new step for students

Published 10:01 pm Monday, June 1, 2009

EVERETT — Anna Huber knows her bosses probably grew weary of her.

Six years ago, Mariner High School’s newly hired theater and social studies teacher lobbied relentlessly for the chance to squeeze in a dance class.

She grew up dancing and believed its movement, discipline and creative expression would help students, many from low-income families, on the urban campus south of Everett.

“It was just so obvious (that) a dance program could meet a need,” she said. “I kept pestering the administration. I was fairly annoying.”

Her persistence paid off. Today, she is one of few high school instructors in the state who teach dance classes only — two for advanced students and three for beginners.

That’s a big leap from the first year with a single class held in a storage room and, later, a wrestling room.

The black mats on the second-floor classroom-turned-studio have become a big draw at Mariner. Huber has proved: Teach steps and they will come.

Her students include teens looking for a refuge from traditional P.E. classes, those seeking a fine arts credit and a growing number of others who watch friends perform and are emboldened to try it themselves. There are fledgling freshmen and muscular linebackers, self-assured honor roll kids and recent immigrants learning English.

Whatever their motivation for signing up, Huber tries to instill in her students a sense of greater purpose, that they should be dancing less for themselves than for others.

Each spring, as was the case on Friday and Saturday night, the dance students perform in Mariner’s spring gala to raise money for a cause. This year, it was for World Vision, an international relief organization. Last year, it was for Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle.

“It’s a matter of knowing that there is someone somewhere in the world who needs help,” said Beshoy Hafzalla, a Mariner senior. “When we practice and when we dance, we know we are doing it for them.”

“It makes everything we do more meaningful,” said Sydnie Herbert, a freshman who hopes to keep taking dance classes through high school.

Mariner students raised more than $2,700 for World Vision and the school’s dance program through donations from hundreds of friends, family and others who attended the performances.

Most of Huber’s students had never taken a dance class before they enrolled in high school. Some boys had preconceived notions that it would be ballerinas and tutus; some girls imagined a steady diet of square dancing. In reality, students are exposed to a mix of jazz, modern, swing, tap, hip hop and break dancing as well as more classical forms, such as waltzes.

For many students, dance class has become the highlight of their day.

“It’s very calm and peaceful here,” said Samantha Lee, a sophomore in first-year dance. “Everyone is so friendly. This is the class where I can let go of a lot of stress.”

“I have gone through some hard times,” said senior Charli Santos, a senior who takes a partner dancing class. “There were days you just want to stay in bed, but I always knew I’d get to dance in fifth period.”

She believes lessons learned in developing a work ethic, interpreting movement to music and the need to be creative but also move as part of a team serve students well.

“It really is a life class,” Santos said. “That’s what I would call it. You take it everywhere.”

Huber’s students also find that dance unifies a diverse student body.

“It doesn’t matter where you are from,” said Pete Papalii, a Samoan junior. “Everyone is open and accepting.”

Each year there is a large audience for the spring gala.

“It’s really easy to get people to go,” said Tessa Wilson, a junior who has become an apprentice in a King County dance company. “We are talking about it all year long.”

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.