IRVINGTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION

Dance Contest a Winner from Step One

Billed as a fundraiser for the Irvington Education Fourndation (IEF), over the last four months of planning the event has become much more than just the district’s take on the hit television show “Dancing with the Stars.”

For one thing, the teachers who agreed to strap on their dance shoes for hip-hop, ballroom, and even break dancing did so not knowing that some of their own students would be teaching.

Debralyn Press, a professional dancer who runs Sleepy Hollow Performing Arts  Center, has many dance students who attend the Irvington schools.  So when Press agreed to be the show’s artistic director, she turned to her own students to help choreograph it.

In a real reversal of roles, a dozen middle and high school students have helped Irvington teachers master their moves since rehearsals began in last August.

And with students as the taskmasters, they’ve even had to warn their protégés to refrain from talking during lesson time.

Irvington parent David Scott first pitched the concept for the show to IEF leaders last spring.
So Scott did one better by offering to produce the show with help from Kasarsky

For the last 12 years, Scott has been the executive producer of “The People’s Court,” which was nominated for an Emmy Award last year.

For the last 12 years, Scott has been the executive producer of “The People’s Court,” which was nominated for an Emmy Award last year.

Scott and his wife, Cyndi, have three children in the school district: Jake, a fifth-grader at the Main Street School; Steven, a year behind his brother, also at the Main Street School, and Camryn, a first-grader at Dows Lane.  All the members of the family are helping Scott behind-the-scenes with the show.

As he sketched out plans for Irvington’s first “Dancing with the Teachers,” Scott  wondered just one thing: “I had no idea if anyone would want to get up there and try to learn to dance,” he said.

But want to-and try to-they did.  The IEF go 40 responses to an e-mail sent out last spring asking if teachers were interested.  Thirty-five showed up to auditions in June, and 23 were finally chosen for the show.

Scott has been documenting the teachers’ progress, videotaping the twice-weekly rehearsals and also interviewing the teachers for a series of vignettes that will be screened that night.  The segments tell the story of the group’s evolving skill, something Press said has grown steadily in recent months.They’re working so hard, they’re so enthusiastic,” said Press, an Irvington resident.  “A lot of them have never danced before and they’re rehearsing like maniacs.”

“The students are getting to se their teacher in a totally different light,” said Scott.  “It’s a chance to really let their hair down.”

One final winner will be chosen by a panel of three judges.  Two of the judges—a record producer and a professional dancer—were landed by Irvington parents with connections to the arts.  Organizers are keeping the identity of a “mystery judge” secret—just one of the many surprises of the night.

When asked if she’d venture a guess on any front-runners in the contest, Press said, “I think the audience likes break dancers, and we have professional break dancers with them [the teachers], but I think it’s anyone’s guess…I’d like them all to win.”

And if the excitement surrounding the show is any indication, Irvington may have to consider an encore next year.