St. John Tradewinds News Photos by Tropical Focus Giftt Hill School wins the spirit award during the Dancing Classrooms competition on Friday night, December 11. GBS Wins First Dancing Classrooms Competition By Jaime Elliott St. John Tradewinds It was a mad hot night at the Westin Resort and Villas on Fri- day, December 11, as about 40 stu- dents from all three island schools strutted their stuff in the first an- nual Colors of the Rainbow team match dance competition. The contest was the culminat- ing event of the 10-week Mad Hot St. John dance program sponsored by Pond Bay Club. An offshoot of Dancing Classrooms, the interna- tionally renowned program created by ballroom extraordinaire Pierre Dulaine in New York in 1994, the program was launched on St. John in September. In 20 sessions over 10 weeks, fifth graders at Julius E. Sprauve School, Gifft Hill School and Guy Benjamin School mastered the steps of the Merengue, Foxtrot, Rubma, Tango and Swing. Three local dancers helmed the classes — Terresa Fragueada at JESS, Elizabeth Gowan at GHS and Gina Wellner at GBS — and Jaycee Gossett directed the program. At the final competition, 10 dancers plus at least two alternates from each school faced off over two rounds of dancing. The first round had dancers showing off their strongest dances while the second round dances were picked at random. In front of more than 100 fam- ily members, friends, faculty and well wishers packed in the Westin ballroom, the students showed ele- gance and poise well beyond their years. Judges Diane Otis, a master adjudicator with North American Dance Teachers Association, Car- los Woods, director of the Mun- go Niles Cultural Dancers of St. Thomas, and Kim Wild, assistant director of St. John School of the Arts, had a difficult task choosing between the talented teams. After a close competition, Well- Le’Nique Sprauve and Andre Hill merengue for GBS. Maeven Parsil and Jovanie Stephenson foxtrot for GBS. ner’s GBS team took home the first place trophy. JESS dancers took home silver medals and the GHS team took home the bronze. GHS students also won the spirit award and will enjoy a pizza St. John Tradewinds, December 14-20, 2009 3 Blackwood tango for JESS. party thanks to their loud cheering and strong support of their team. Showing remarkable transfor- mations throughout the course of the program, all of the students were winners, explained Dulaine. “Everyone is a golden student tonight,” said Dulaine. “You all did great. I remember at the first lesson when you didn’t even want to look at each other or touch each other and now you have become real ladies and gentlemen.” Gaining popularity from the critically acclaimed documentary Mad Hot Ballroom — and the fictional film adaptation Take the Lead starring Antonio Banderas — Dancing Classrooms has made a difference in the lives of countless students who gain problem solv- ing, crisis management and self respect lessons along with instruc- tion in the Fox Trot and Swing. Mad Hot St. John is the first program of its kind in the Virgin Islands, but doesn’t seem likely to Cruz Bay-Red Hook Ferry Runs Offered Hourly — For Now By Jaime Elliott St. John Tradewinds Despite a Public Services Commission order, ferries have been plying the waters between Red Hook and Cruz Bay hourly, ac- cording to commuters. The public utility regulating body approved an order last month to reduce the ferry sched- ules after 7 p.m. to every other hour, instead of the normal hourly runs. Many commuters, however, have been pleasantly surprised to find the ferries running every hour at night. While the official ferry schedule — per the PSC order — eliminated the 9 and 11 p.m. runs from Red Hook to Cruz Bay and the 8 and 10 p.m. runs from Cruz Bay to Red Hook, all runs were running last week. The PSC is having a meeting on Wednes- day, December 15, at its office at Barbel Pla- za on St. Thomas, and ferry matters are on the agenda to be discussed at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public and comments from residents are welcome. For more information or to check the ferry schedules call Varlack Ventures at 340-776- 6412 or Transportation Services of St. John at 340-776-6282. Nadia Dudkin and Landis Wallace swing for GHS. stay that way for long, explained Dulaine. “You know other schools are jealous of you,” Dulaine told St. John students at the competition. “They want this program in St. Thomas and St. Croix and it was here in St. John first.” While GBS principal Dionne Wells walked away with the over- sized first place trophy, she won’t have an easy time defending the win next year, as students were al- ready looking forward to the start of the next Mad Hot St. John. INDEX Business Directory Church Schedules Classified Ads Community Calendar Crossword Puzzle Ferry Schedules Letters Police Log Real Estate Wha’s Happn’nin’ NEXT DEADLINE Thursday, Dec. 17 NSN 340-776-6496 SINE info @tradewinds.vi