Fourth graders from Patrick Henry and Albert Harris elementary schools recently performed Dance Español in a class taught in conjunction with Piedmont Arts, a non-profit agency.
The week-long dance class that combined movement with the Spanish language was taught by Southwest-Virginia director instructor Pedro Szalay.
“It’s an honor to share what we love, dance, it’s a beautiful art form,” said Szalay, who came up with the idea for the project and has been teaching the program to students for several years. “It’s a beautiful art form that lets them express themselves.”
The program’s goal is to help inspire students to learn another language as well as help them with spatial awareness and music appreciation. Students followed along with Szalay’s moves as he led, with students performing different dances while announcing Spanish words to help with memorization.
“It is so important to learn other languages. Learning other languages is important so that we can be good neighbors,” Szalay said of the program that emphasizes teaching students respect and giving them confidence to perform in front of their peers.
Each student wore a special shirt as part of their costume. The Spanish text printed on each translated to “self-awareness and mental health through dance.”
Another performance was held earlier, performed by Campbell Court and Meadow View elementary school in Henry County.
Dance Español is set to return next year to instruct a new group of students in dance and to help ignite their interest in learning a second language.
Hooker Furniture, The Lester Group, and Piedmont Arts were among the program’s sponsors.
