Hopping and grooving Hopping and grooving (April 30, 2004)

Swing dancing is back at Hart Middle School
by Teresa C. Brown

The joint is hopping, as the kids are swinging to dance steps their grandparents were jumping and jiving to some 60 years ago.

Swing dancing has taken off at Hart Middle School, as seventh- and eighth-grade students twirl, twist and hop their way through jazz tunes that shook the house decades ago.

Dancing to swing music by the likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway was popular through the mid-1940s, and in the last 20 years, the dance music has enjoyed another wave of popularity brought to Hart Middle School by physical education teacher Pat Hallahan.

Hallahan first introduced swing dancing to Pleasanton when he taught at Pleasanton Middle School in 1996.

"One of the state mandates is some type of dance," he explained.

Dance is the first P.E. unit taught in the school year, Hallahan said, calling it a great icebreaker.

"It's one of the best units to get kids meeting other kids," he said. "It works on social skills and is a good way to open up the year as we're getting new kids in."

Sometimes pre-teens, especially boys, are reluctant to learn dance steps. Hallahan is quick to tell them, "Guys, if you can dance, it's like an A ticket to an E ride."

"What we try to convince them is this is a good thing. It's a good skill to have, especially later in life," he added.

All of the seventh- and eighth-grade students take the class and learn the different Lindy Hop steps. In class, there are certain rules. The guys learn how to ask girls to dance, and the girls cannot say no, Hallahan said.

During class, couples do not stay paired up with the same people, explained Hallahan. "We rotate them, so they are dancing with new partners."

At times students dance with partners they like, and at other times, with those they don't like. The rotation has a lesson in it. "It's one of the best units we have as far as teaching kids how to deal with uncomfortable situations," noted Hallahan.

The P.E. dance class culminates with a popular annual contest. In October, following weeks of lessons, couples can compete for reigning honors.

"We teach the unit, and at the end of the unit, we have students sign up for a swing dance contest," said Hallahan. "It gets better and better every year."

This year, 220 couples signed up for the contest, he said. During dance contest days, Hart's campus grounds were virtually empty as students, whether participants or spectators, attended the competition. Couples develop a fan base that makes signs and cheers them on, Hallahan said.

The couples paired up on their own and practiced during their own time two weeks before the contest, Hallahan said. They put their own routines together, which must meet the judging criteria: They have to perform moves they learned in class, add their own steps, and choreograph all of the moves into a cohesive routine.

Hallahan explained that sometimes during practice he would teach students more advanced moves. The competition is judged by staff of the P.E. Department, with first all of the couples competing, dancing to two or three songs. "They are whittled down to the top three," said Hallahan.

The competition culminates with a championship evening at a school dance with a disc jockey spinning records for the dance as well as for the dance competition finalists.

This year, the decision was split, but ultimately, Melissa Gandy and Kris Adkins were dubbed the top hoppers.

"They were very appealing to the audience. Their routine was cute," Hallahan said. "It didn't have aerials, but what they put together was very appealing to the audience."

All of the kids did well, Hallahan said, adding that all of the top dancers were in seventh grade.

In the past, the top swing dancers performed locally, and this year was not an exception. Along with the district's Honor Jazz Band, the students performed this month in San Francisco for the National Association of Elementary School Principals' convention held at the Moscone Center.

The dancers and the band warmed up the audience for the convention's keynote speaker, actor Henry Winkler, who is most well-known for his role as the "Fonz" in the television program "Happy Days."

More than 4,000 people attended the conference, Hallahan said, with big screens throughout the hall, telecasting the dance performance to the audience.

Jump-jiving at Hart continues to gain in popularity, as the hoppers are swinging to tunes that are 60 years new.

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