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HARLINGEN — They moved with unfettered zeal to the music and the energy of that music and the freshness of their excitement.
The parents and the grandparents and the friends and relatives of the girls performing their dance camp recital Friday cheered as the young dancers moved to each thump and tap of the hip hop music. The girls aged 8 to 12 twirled around, arms out back and forth and expressions playful and intense and extraordinary.
The girls had just completed their three-day dance camp at the Main Unit of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen. They now demonstrated what they’d learned to their many supporters sitting in the bleachers with cameras up and cheering and shouting and offering fine congratulations.
“It was exciting, energetic, loving it,” said Amber Leal, whose stepdaughter Sophia Rodriguez had just performed in the show.
“She loves her Coach Zena,” Leal added.
Camp Director Zena Nazar spent Tuesday through Thursday working with the 31 kids on their hip-hop routines and their stunt performance.
“It’s gone so good,” Nazar said. “I had a lot of girls that wanted to sign up.”
Last year, she had 29 girls in her program and this year she had to set a limit of 30, although ultimately, she allowed one more in.
“They all returned every single day so I’m really glad for them,” she said. “Sometimes you’ll have a few of them that come the first day and then they don’t return.”
Two girls said they’d tried several other dance camps, but Nazar’s camp was the best they’d ever had. One of them was Landry Munoz, 8, a third grader at Calvary Christian School.
“It’s actually really fun to learn dance, and it’s very good to perform in the dance,” Landry said during the camp earlier in the week.
“It’s kind of like this,” she said, and at this moment she broke into a quick rolling move with her arms bent and shifting back and forth.
Now her friend Mikah Wolf, 9, spoke up amidst hugs and smiles with Landry, her friend and fellow student from Calvary Christian School.
“The music is really exciting,” Mikah said, spinning around.
“I really love learning dance and I love learning dance like this,” she said.
The camp sessions earlier in the week and the enthusiasm of the girls and the success of their moves already promised a fine performance on Friday for their families.
“I am actually really excited about it because my parents will get to see me dance,” said Emma Martinez, 10, a fourth grader at Lee H. Means Elementary Fine Arts Academy.
“Dancing says a lot about me,” Emma said. “I love to dance at school. I am on a hip-hop dance team.”
The camp was also very good for 9-year old Tatyanna De Jesus, said her mother Mtisha De Jesus.
“Cheer is her life,” she said. “She liked it everyday, and she was coming home and then practicing with her sister.”
That sister is Katreena Pendergrass, now 22, who participated in the dance and cheer camps years ago at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen.
“She’s always cheering so it’s kind of easy for her to pick up,” said Pendergrass, a niece of the late soul and R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass. Music and the passion of the music and the celebration of that music through dance obvious runs in this family.
Katreena was a cheerleader at Harlingen High School South, and she said the camps gave her the courage to stand before people and present herself in a positive manner.
And that is a powerful tool in any endeavor in life.
