Tarentorus kids dance in 'happy place' and school community is invited

With guidance from local dance instructor Maxine Cavaliere, schoolchildren enrolled at Tarentorus Public School - from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 - will be performing for their school community in the Tarentorus Dance Extravaganza on Tuesday, April 25.

Born and raised in the Sault, Cavaliere started dancing at the age of four with local dance schools and she danced competitively.

“Music and dance have been in my life for as long as I can remember. I’m in the restaurant business and that’s my day job, but dance always calls me back,” Cavaliere told SooToday at a rehearsal at Tarentorus Public School on Tuesday.

The Tarentorus Dance Extravaganza begins at 12 p.m. and continues until 1 p.m. on April 25 and will be held at the Sault Community Theatre Centre.

With almost 100 per cent participation from Tarentorus students as well as some staff members, dancing will be set to a wide variety of songs from different eras and genres, including 1950s hit Let’s Twist Again by Chubby Checker, 1970s Bee Gees song You Should Be Dancing and 1982’s Bad To The Bone by George Thorogood and The Destroyers.

“It’s an hour and it’s packed with energy and fun. It’s a good time for parents to leave work and come and watch their kids,” Cavaliere said.

Admission to the show is by donation, with all funds raised going to Tarentorus Public School programming.

The show is open to Tarentorus students’ family members only.

Cavaliere has produced dance shows for Tarentorus before, but this spring’s show marks her first post-COVID effort and is also shaping up to be her biggest dance production so far.

The extravaganza will include special lighting and shirts with positive messaging for its young performers.

It is projected 800 people will attend.

Cavaliere is currently at Tarentorus four days a week preparing the students for their big show.

“What I wanted to do was come back into the schools and have a relationship with my kids’ teachers, and I wanted to get to know the students that are in my kids’ classes,” Cavaliere said.

Her son Alessandro is in Grade 5 at Tarentorus, her daughter Gianna in Grade 1.

“I say to the classes when we start, ‘I don’t care if you have any dance history, I don’t care if you’re a great dancer, we are here to have fun.’ That’s all it's about. It’s about getting together and expressing yourself, letting go of some energy, learning some new steps and possibly some of the students will go home to mom and dad and say ‘hey I want to join dance,’” Cavaliere said.

She added that she’s receiving messages from parents expressing happiness over their children starting to dance at home.

“There’s been a real buzz about it. We thought this would be great, especially after COVID,” said Tarentorus Principal Davey Taylor about the upcoming extravaganza.

The show is being viewed as encouragement for children to be physically active in a non-judgmental atmosphere and as a way for children to develop a sense of camaraderie.

“Maxine has been a gift for our school. She’s a parent here but with her background in dance, she decided that she wanted to bring it to our school where we can teach kids from Kindergarten all the way to Grade 8 to try new things. It’s been good for wellbeing in the school where all kids are trying dance and enjoying it,” Taylor said.

“It’s fun dancing with my friends,” said Grade 3 student Ivor Anstess.

“The thing I like about dancing is I get to move my body freely, however I want to. That’s my favourite thing about it. When I dance I feel happy because I get to be with my friends. Sometimes I do it at home. It’s really fun,” Anstess said.

“I’ve danced before and this is pretty exciting for me because instead of dancing at my house I get to dance in public. It’s really, really fun,” said Grade 4 student Crystal McKay. 

“I like to exercise a lot and dancing is technically exercising because you’re moving.” 

Crystal, who said she also enjoys singing, added she wants to get involved in formal dance lessons.

“Sometimes I really get into dancing and if I feel like no one’s watching me I go into my happy place,” she said.

“Kids who don’t feel fully understood at school can come and express themselves through dancing. I actually tear up about it. Kids who are struggling or trying to find a way figure it out through music and dance,” Cavaliere said.

“There’s nothing more special to me than having a child come up to me and say ‘I think I want to be a dancer when I grow up, thank you for that.’”