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你是否认为小学生不能跳探戈？再想想！在威廉·里德学校，来自卡尔加里舞蹈基金会的Martin先生与幼儿园至四年级的学生（共291名学生）一起努力，教授他们舞厅礼仪和舞蹈基础知识。每个年级都学习了一种特定的舞蹈：幼儿园：热身（从鸡舞升级），一年级：梅伦格舞，二年级：探戈舞，三年级：摇摆舞，四年级：华尔兹。

我们见证了学生的进步，从最初把手放在口袋里或藏在长袖子里，到站得高高的、保持挺拔和宽阔的身姿，到与音乐步调一致。最初的咯咯笑声转变成了尊重的眼神，没有一个学生再觉得与同学跳舞“奇怪”。

有几位四年级舞者被要求代表威廉·里德学校于2018年11月28日星期三参加卡尔加里舞蹈基金会的年度筹款活动。七名威廉·里德学生自豪地在晚间活动中跳了一支华尔兹，让他们的父母感到骄傲，捐赠者对于他们的捐款用途表达了感激之情。其中一名学生不得不错过她的足球训练以参加这个活动。她的妈妈评论说：“我女儿可以随时踢足球。这是一生一次的机会！”

学生们使用了许多不同的策略来应对这一切的兴奋：

“一开始我非常害怕。我感到胃里难受。当我开始跳舞时，我告诉自己我能做到！最后变得可怕，但很有趣。”

“我专注于练习。我想象我在体育馆里跳舞。这是我保持专注和冷静的方法。”

“一开始我很害怕。Martin先生告诉我犯错误也没关系，所以我放松了。这真是令人兴奋、令人紧张。我觉得自己像个弹球。跳完之后，我真为自己感到骄傲。”

“我感到兴奋。我想知道什么时候开始，什么时候轮到我们。然后轮到我们了，我专注于微笑，只做好自己的任务！”

“我感到紧张和害怕。我提醒自己只要微笑，快点就会结束。我真的喜欢穿得漂亮。”

在所有家长观看舞蹈表演之后，这是一些家长的反馈：

“他在所有学生身上所做的真是非凡。”

“我只想说，昨晚的音乐会太棒了！所有的孩子都做得很棒，显然，Martin先生与孩子们相处得很好。所以感谢你们的辛勤工作，以及这场非常愉快的音乐会。我们都喜欢它！”

“对于所有人来说，这是一次美妙的经历！我们观察到学生们的转变，他们以整体协作为单位，表现出尊重和包容，这太棒了！感谢你引进舞厅舞蹈进威廉·里德学校！愿这些技能在整个学年传承下去 😊 恭喜！”

威廉·里德学校是第一个拥有舞厅驻校项目的卡尔加里教育局学校。我们希望能够继续这个项目，因为它确实教给了我们的学生新的技能和社交礼仪。

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Do you think elementary students can’t tango? Think again! At William Reid School, Monsieur Martin from the Calgary Dance Foundation has worked hard with kindergarten to Grade 4 students (291 of them) to teach them foundations of ballroom etiquette and dancing. Each grade learned a specific dance: Kindergarten: Warm up (step up from the Chicken dance), Grade 1: Merengue, Grade 2: Tango, Grade 3: Swing, Grade 4: Waltz.

It has been amazing to witness the progress the students have made: from putting their hands in the pockets or hiding their hands in their long sleeves to standing tall, having a tall and wide frame and to stepping in time with the music. The initial giggles turned into looks of respect and not a single student feels ‘strange’ any longer having to dance with a classmate.

Some of the Grade 4 dancers were asked to represent William Reid School on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 at the annual fundraising event of the Calgary Dance Foundation. Seven William Reid students proudly danced a waltz at the evening event, making their parents proud and the donors appreciative of what their money is helping to do. One student had to miss her soccer practice to join this event. Her mom commented: “My daughter can play soccer any day of the week. This is a once-in-a lifetime-opportunity!”

Students used a number of different strategies to help them cope with the excitement of it all:

“I was so scared at the beginning. I felt sick to my stomach. When I started dancing, I told myself that I could do it! And it went well. So it was scary, but fun in the end.”

“I put my head into practicing. I imagined I was in the gym, doing my dance. It’s how I stayed focused and calm.”

“I was scared at first. Monsieur Martin told me it was ok to make mistakes, so I relaxed. It was exciting, nerve wrecking. I felt like a bouncy ball. When we were done, I was really proud to have done it.”

“I felt excited. I wondered when it would start and when we’d have our turn. Then it was our turn, and I was focusing on smiling and just doing my job!”

”I felt nervous and scared. I reminded myself to just smile and that it would be over soon. I really enjoyed dressing up.”

After the dance performance for all the parents, this is what some of them said:

“Just extraordinary what he did with all the students.”

“I just wanted to say that last night’s concert was nothing short of amazing! All of the children did a fantastic job and clearly, Mr. Martin had a nice manner with the children. So thank you for all of your hard work and for such a refreshing concert. We all loved it!

“What a wonderful experience for all! The transformation we saw in students whereby they worked smoothly as a unit, demonstrated respect and inclusion was fantastic! Thank you for introducing ball room dance to William Reid! May those skills continue to transfer throughout this school year 😊 Bravo!”

William Reid is the first CBE school to have a ballroom residency. We are hoping to continue with this program, as it has truly taught our students new skills as well as social graces.