As summer ends and fall begins so does our new school year. Students have come back onto campus with some familiar and welcoming faces, but something exciting and new is also in the mix. In addition to the welcome back feeling as teachers open their doors there is a shiny new sign on room 503 that reads “Dance”, and when the door opened……..

That’s when Mrs. Gonzales walked in. Dressed in black joggers and her worn in jazz shoes, she carried herself with the calm confidence of someone who had danced on stages bigger than most students had ever seen.

Let’s get to know a little about Mrs. Gonzales. She has been dancing since she was 13 years old and has also been teaching since she was 18. Her experience in dance comes from being a professional jazz and commercial dancer, working music videos, Disney and Knotts parades. She has experimented in many different forms of dance. She came from Cal State Long Beach and she is happily married. A couple of fun facts about Mrs. Gonzalez are that she’s double-jointed in her elbows, hands, and knees. Another fun fact about her is that she loves chicken tenders, she could eat them all day!

Mrs. Gonzales is passionate about teaching students how to dance! She also likes to radiate positive energy and the sense of freedom when she teaches different dances. Her desire for teaching is watching students grow, and just to show them that there’s a gateway of freedom of emotions they’re afraid to show. The students are like a reflection of her when she was younger. The benefits of being in dance are flexibility, confidence, community, agency, commitment, and responsibility. In dance class, you will be dancing a lot of jazz dance, hip hop, Latin, modern, ballet, musical theater, and camera work. Mrs. Gonzalez was inspired by her culture of Punta del Este, because they have very upbeat dancing. With Punta you move your feet and hips to create a fast and rhythmic motion with your hips. She is very excited to teach students all these fun dances.

This class can bring a lot of fun and also take students out of their comfort zone. Many students can benefit from this class not only by moving the body but also by having fun and increasing self-esteem and confidence. I hope the students of Santiago will give this class a try.