Kindergartners get into the groove in East Meadow schools

For the last four years in the East Meadow School District, kindergarten students have been able to get into the groove and learn dance, taught by professionals in the field. The multiweek program took place between mid-January and mid-February this year, and was led by Gina Petitto, a dance teacher and East Meadow resident who raised her kids in the community.

Petitto co-owns JAM Dance and Fitness Center, which is just down the road from East Meadow in Bellmore.

Over the course of four weeks, kindergartners in each of East Meadow’s elementary schools — which includes Barnum Woods, Parkway, McVey, Bowling Green and Meadowbrook — got to spend a part of their day learning the basics of dance. Each school gets its own day and period of time for its dance classes, Petitto explained, so students get out of the classroom just once a week.

“We start with just the basics,” Petitto said. “We start with stretches, stuff like that. It’s all about balance, using your body, what muscles you use to balance.”

This all leads to breaking down music into counts and learning different moves.

“It’s really amazing how much they learn,” Petitto said. “By the last week, we don’t have to do it with them. They know what to do. They hold their arms out, they do their kicks, they’re literally doing everything we’re doing.”

In the past, Petitto led the dance program in each elementary school by herself. This year, she brought in a teacher from JAM, Alexis Muenckler, to assist with the classes.

“I used to teach her when she was younger,” Petitto said. “So it was full circle. I taught Alexis, now she teaches for me at the studio, and now she’s helping me teach the kindergarten program.”

Each class ended with a routine, where students would follow the leads of their teachers — who incorporated everything they learned earlier that day in class.

“It’s really cool that we get to see at the end of the four weeks that they really listened to us,” Petitto said.

The program includes a wide range of skills that apply outside of dance — whether it’s counting beats, or following instruction.

“We’re really trying to incorporate other things, and it’s nice for the kids to come out of their classroom in the middle of the day and see us and have fun,” Petitto said. “It’s not really anything strict — we’re not getting ready for a performance. So we really have the time to do whatever we want. To see the kids really just change within the four weeks is really amazing.”

At JAM, Petitto said that young girls take a lot more of the studio’s creative dance classes, while young boys tend to lean more towards taking a class like hip hop. But in East Meadow’s program, she gets to teach everyone all together, which is something she’s enjoyed.

Petitto added that the program is really a tremendous highlight within East Meadow schools.

“I’m proud of East Meadow for doing this program and incorporating dance into kids lives at such a young age,” she said. “There could be kids that never were able to take a dance class or didn’t think they wanted to. I think it’s an important program and I really love that East Meadow does it.

“For me, it’s incredible to be able to grow up dancing in East Meadow, and now I’m teaching it in all the schools,” she added. “It’s very sweet for me to be able to do that.”

To learn more about Petitto’s studio in Bellmore, visit JAMDanceAndFitness.com.