Professional dancer Mayta Natalio
leads a class at Lee Middle School.

(BRADENTON, FL - September 18, 2007) The 55 students inside the dance studio at Lee Middle School swayed and shook to the music with a heavy bass beat. As they moved, they fixed their eyes on the two professional dancers instructing them from the front of the mirror-lined classroom. They were dancing and learning, learning and dancing.

That's how it went for well over an hour on the morning of Friday, September 7, 2007, at Lee Middle, a magnet school which specializes in the fine arts and communication. The professional dancers - Mayte Natalio of New York City and Zac Hammer from Dallas, Texas - are performers with Parsons Dance, an internationally acclaimed dance company based in New York. Parsons Dance was in the area for an evening performance at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, and as part of an outreach program for future dancers, the pair of professional performers made the trek to Lee Middle to teach some basics of the athletic and exuberant dance style that has made Parsons Dance famous.

“I think being a part of this class today made me feel more open and gave me confidence in myself,” said Aimee Temple, an eighth-grader at Lee. “This class really showed me that you can enjoy something you love to do every day. What I saw today made me willing to find out what else is out there in the dance world.”

The professional dancers also took some positive feelings away from the experience.

“There is such a drought in the arts programs in schools today,” said Mayta Natalio. “It is so invigorating to come to this magnet school where the arts are flourishing and students are so involved in high caliber programs.”

Professional dancer Zac Hammer
gets Lee students swaying to the beat.

Principal Scot Boice, Magnet Coordinator Dudley Johnson, Dance Instructors Ashley Hassler and Donna McElhiney and Van Wezel Education Coordinator Leslie Lacktman all played a role in making the visit possible.

“Getting to see and work with world-renowned dancers is a connection most young dancers rarely receive,” Donna McElhiney said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for our students and something they will never forget.”

Students at Lee learn some basic dance moves.