NBA.com: Knicks City Dancers: TASC Dance Clinics

TASC Rising Stars Recital - May 24, 2004
Students from PS/MS 27, PS 111 and PS 130 learned creative movement from the Knicks City Dancers.These inner-city students ages 7 - 12 attended class every Wednesday from October - May and then performed at an end-of-season recital. This year's recital was May 24 at the Theater Lobby of The Theater at Madison Square Garden before hundreds of cheering families and fans!

PS 130 does the hustle in a "70's Medley".

Dancers end their routine throwing streamers.

The Conga line topped off the show.

Happy dancers get an achievement medal and strike a pose.

by Tom Kertes
Smiles. Chuckles. Excited grins. Even huge hardy-har-hars. You can betcha there hasn't been this much happiness at the Garden since the Knicks made the playoffs.

The third annual Knicks City Dancers "Rising Stars" Recital evoked enormous emotion from the 150 third-to-fifth grade participants, not to mention their families and friends who came equipped with enough digital cameras and all kinds of other video stuff to put Steven Spielberg to shame. "She loves this," mom Maria Lopez said as nine-year old Amanda was boogeying it up on the Madison Square Garden stage. "She'd do anything to participate in this program. Whenever she had an attitude -- yes, this little angel up there does sometimes -- I told her she couldn't dance. That straightened her right out." Amanda spent her entire dance-time on stage wearing a huge smile, while staring directly at mom, aunt, and brother Ramon, making sure they watch her every move. "She's so proud," mom said through welling-up tears. "This program has been just the greatest thing."

This program, the brainchild of Knicks Director of Entertainment Marketing Petra Pope, has had Knick City Dancers go out to three New York City public schools -- P.S. 130, CES 28, and P.S. 279 -- from October through May for weekly dance teaching sessions. "The idea was to do more than just a visit or two," said Pope. "We wanted to give back to the community. We wanted to create relationships with the kids. We wanted to do something with longevity and continuity."

The results have been extremely gratifying. "Teachers and parents call and e-mail us by the dozens to tell us how this program has developed creativity, discipline, and leadership in the kids," said Pope. "Basically, the children love to work with our Knick City Dancers so much that they behave themselves and study in order to be able to practice. Plus we try to give them a sense of ownership, always encouraging them to choose their own music and select their steps. It appears to have an amazing effect."

"This is all about making the kids loved and appreciated," Pope said in her opening remarks at the recital. ""It makes us feel so special to do that."

"We all believe so much in your children," added Knicks Vice President of Community Relations and Fan Development Karin Buchholz. "So we try to use all our assets, the power of our celebrity, to inspire and motivate your kids."

"Programs such as this give people dreams. They allow children to believe that they can achieve big things.”