New Haven Independent

“Gotta be smart,” Hill told them. “Gotta be right on the time.” Hill, a professional dance instructor at New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts, has been teaching a weekly salsa class at Hillhouse High School for years. This time, however, the class is somewhat different.

Spanish teacher Ann Grogan and English as Second Language (ESL) teacher Susan Christiansen decided this year to bring together their classes with Hill’s dance lessons in order to facilitate interaction and communication between Hillhouse’s local and foreign students. The program, in its second of eight weeks, already seems to have made a significant impact at the school. “They all love it,” reported Grogan. “I’m thrilled.” Echoing her comments, one student remarked, “I’m becoming a natural [at salsa dancing]. I might give up football soon.”

The purpose of Hill’s class, funded by the Arts Presentation Grant from the Commission on Culture and Tourism, is not only to encourage the ESL students to practice their English skills with other students, but also to ease their often difficult transition to an American high school.

“When the ESL students first arrive,” Grogan explained, “they are confined and isolated. [The dance class] is an icebreaker, a way for them to intermingle and make friends.”

“Now I even see them in the hallway saying hi!” quipped Christiansen.

The ESL students, who come from countries as diverse as Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, and Cuba, are all at a level II proficiency in English. That, according to Christiansen, means they have some verbal communication skills but likely have difficulty reading and writing in English.

Grogan’s students, on the other hand, are all New Haven locals. Despite the cultural and linguistic differences between them, Grogan says, “Here they are on equal footing. Here they can just be kids.”

Grogan’s cheerful enthusiasm was matched by the students’ excitement dancing with each other. The room filled with riotous laughter as the music began but quieted down as soon as Hill gave new instructions to the class of eager students.

“Down and up and around, two, three!”

At times the students would groan in unison as Hill offered a sudden complication to a dance move or explained instructions that were difficult to understand. To describe one move, Hill explained, “It’s like turning a pump handle. Down, up!” Some resorted to their native tongue to clarify the meaning of Hill’s instructions, while others broke off into groups with those whose language they shared. Hill’s constant cry to change partners, however, forced all of the students to interact and made it difficult for these groups to remain isolated for long.

The teachers’ only regret with their project was that they couldn’t expand it to all of the school’s ESL students, some of whom, Christiansen reported, are from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Money, of course, proved the limiting factor: “It’s extremely difficult to find money. But the rewards [of the class] are endless. The kids get more out of this than an hour in the classroom.”

Finally, as the class wound down, the bell rang to indicate the end of the period and time for the students to move to their next class. But few packed up their bags at the bell’s sound, waiting instead until the song’s last beat to stop dancing.