Serving Salsa With Class

(From The Hartford Courant -- bY Robert A. Frahm)

Seventeen-year-old STEPHEN GONDEK used to work out as a member of Simsbury High School's wrestling team. Now he's staying after school to practice some different moves.

He's learning the cha-cha.

The dance classes started with fewer than 10 students a year ago but now draw more than 30 students on Tuesday afternoons at Simsbury High, one of several area high schools where the fox trot, waltz, rumba and other dances are catching on with teenagers.

"There's a dramatic increase in the amount of dance instruction going on," said SCOTT SHULER, an arts consultant with the state Department of Education.

Shuler and others believe the popularity of television shows such as ABC's DANCING WITH THE STARS or movies such as SHALL WE DANCE and MAD HOT BALLROOM have spurred an interest in a style of dancing more often associated with an older generation.

Serving Salsa With Class