Last week, students from Eastern Elementary School performed dance routines at the Turnage Theater as part of Flamenco Vivo Carlotta Santana. Dancers for the company partnered with Eastern Elementary’s music teacher Juwanna Waters, orchestrating practice sessions for the dancers to teach students how to flamenco.

During the performance, the Turnage was packed full of students, parents and other people anxiously waiting the students’ dance. And dance they did: the clapped, they twirled, they stomped and chanted.

Not only was this an amazing activity for the students, but it also broke ground on bridging the gap between cultures of students in Beaufort County. Flamenco Vivo dancers and musicians were onstage, singing and dancing alongside students, which made it all the more interesting.

The show was an amazing display of Spanish culture. The students only prepared for a couple hours for four days. Based on the time in which they had available to prepare, the students acclimated to the dance very quickly. This was likely due to the level of interest the dancers instilled in the students: the dancers were very excited to teach the students and the students were just as excited to learn, which made the performance that much more special.

Hopefully, Beaufort County Schools will continue to apply for and receive more grant funding for events like this — a complete success, broadening the scope for students, and awfully fun to watch.