Jahkobe, Amelia, and Aubri are students at MacDowell Montessori School, and they have something big coming up: a citywide dance competition this spring.
The three students are part of Mad Hot Ballroom, a long-running school dance education program run by Danceworks that teaches dance to elementary and middle school students across the city. The program, inspired by the 2005 documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom," is celebrating 20 years of going into schools.
WATCH: Milwaukee students learn to dance through Mad Hot Ballroom
Students say the program is about more than just learning to dance.
"Exploring different dance genres is very cultural and it's fun to learn," Amelia said.
"The Mad Hot program is like a really fun program where many different kids get to dance like no matter. Like who you are, like what you are," Aubrey said.
"It teaches you how to cooperate and talk to people that you don't know," Jacoby said.
The program emphasizes confidence, cooperation, and respect — values students say they are carrying with them beyond the dance floor.
"Interacting with like other students has been greater and I've actually formed some friendships I didn't know that I was going to be friends with people because of this program," Aubrey said.
Students have been practicing since January as they prepare for the citywide competition. For Amelia, the stakes feel real.
"You know that like something big is happening that you got to put it all out on the dance floor so that you win," Ameila said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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