Ballroom dancers take center stage at Bayside school

Twelve-year-old Jason Batilo knew all of the dance moves by heart - the merengue, foxtrot, tango, swing and heel-toe polka. So on Thursday, March 29, Batilo mimicked the steps as dancers twirled around the auditorium stage at P.S. 46 in Bayside.
Positioned on the side in his wheelchair, Batilo waited for his turn at the end of the hour-long ballroom dancing showcase, when he would get his chance to take center stage.
When the intro to the 90s-dance hit Macarena came over the public address system, Batilo rolled into the spotlight, and flanked by fellow fifth graders, Jaylen Schlesinger and Alex Davis, Batilo stole the show.
Afterward, out of breath and beaming, Batilo said he thought the dance classes were just “great.”
“He really is incredible. He has great rhythm,” said Marianne Razzo, an instructor from the American Ballroom Theater Company, who has taught the P.S. 46 kids for the past 10 weeks. Razzo said that although “stomp” and “cotton-eyed Joe” tunes have been added to many classes, the Macarena is not normally performed by fourth and fifth graders.
“We do it sometimes, but I really wanted [Batilo] to be able to dance on stage,” Razzo said.
Razzo, who has also been leading 10-week classes at P.S. 31 in Bayside and P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights, selected about a dozen dancers to perform solos during the recital.
“I choose students who really need a boost of confidence. Maybe all they need is to be up on stage and to hear the applause. Maybe for 30 seconds, they can feel like the most important person in the room, and they may not feel like that all of the time,” Razzo said.
Her philosophy appeared to have worked as most of the children underwent transformations throughout the process, she said.
“In the very beginning it’s very challenging for them to want to touch each other,” she laughed. “By the end, they don’t want to dance alone. They want to be dancing in a team.”