One hundred and twelve fifth graders from seven Springfield public schools will participate in the competition Saturday, June 1, at 4 p.m. at Symphony Hall.
Allyson M. Gouzounis, left and George C. Gouzounis. SPRINGFIELD –The youngsters will be performing “Oldies But Goodies” as they dance the merengue, cha-cha, waltz, swing, foxtrot and tango in the eighth annual “Over the Top: the Ballroom Dance Project.”
One hundred and twelve fifth graders from seven Springfield public schools will participate in the competition Saturday, June 1, at 4 p.m. at Symphony Hall.
“This group is excellent,” enthused George C. Gouzounis who with his wife, Allyson M. Gouzounis, began the program in 2005 with four schools participating. “We’ve never had a group perform this well. They are all excellent students.”
The couple began the program after realizing they could put into action the idea they had before seeing the movie "Mad Hot Ballroom.”
“We liked what we saw and thought why couldn’t we do this in Springfield?” George Gouzounis said.
This year five Springfield College students volunteered with the project.
Each October Mr. and Mrs. Gouzounis give dance lessons to the fifth graders in the participating schools; after the third lesson, the children can decide if they will continue. In January each school has a dance off to select the finalists who will represent the school at Symphony Hall.
This year the project began with 700 fifth-grade students.
“Fifth grade is the perfect grade to do this,” George Gouzounis said. “It’s the oldest grade in elementary school, and it’s worked out very good because they are more mature than the younger kids.”
The dance project helps the children enhance their self-esteem and self confidence.
The husband and wife volunteer team has taught ballroom dancing to more than 4,000 children since the project began.
She teaches second grade part time at Kensington Avenue School; he is a consultant with Wells Fargo Advisors and a former elementary school music teacher.
Each dance couple consists of a boy and a girl; students will compete for couples and school routine trophies.
Among the songs the fifth graders will dance to in this year’s show are “Copacabana,” “New York, New York” and “Rainbow Connection.”
Former Over the Top: the Ballroom Dance Project dancers continue to perform as a group for various functions and conferences and at nursing homes.
Tickets for this year’s competition are $10 and will be available at the door.
For more information, call (413) 433-5036.