CherubimII
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They Did MJ Proud
BY KATE PASTOR
Students at The Robert J. Christen School, PS 81 put on their eleventh annual children’s show this weekend, dancing and singing to Michael Jackson tunes, wearing his clothes, imitating his poses and boogying to his dances.
The show, which included lots of off-stage action in the aisles, was fittingly called “We Are The World,” and involved, if not the entire globe, every grade in the school.
With Michael Jackson’s voice coming softly out of speakers in the background, students celebrated MJ’s repertoire with music from the span of his career. From the Jackson 5’s “ABC,” sung by adorable kindergartners who are likely studying the alphabet in the classroom, to fourth graders who sang “Heal the World” while sitting on the stage wearing T-shirts with globes printed on them, the show seemed to capture every students’ imagination.
The acts were broken up by pairs of students who came onto the stage and discussed one of Jackson’s many titles. Before they knew it, audience members could hear the music and spot the moonwalk.
Knowing they would not end up in the principal’s office, some kids, including those in first grade who sang the song, flaunted how “bad” they were. A group of fifth grade girls dressed in purple glitter dresses, shook their bodies to the ground, bumping their hips to the beat. Then, their grade turned into zombies as they acted out the famous “Thriller” video. At the start of the performance, students were balled up on the ground before they gradually rose one arm and began to stand in slow motion as the music came in.
In the lunchroom, which was turned into a series of dressing rooms, fourth grader Natalia Rosario was dressed in a leather jacket with a bandana wrapped around her head. It was, she said, the mark of her faux gang, which would meet with their opponents in the group’s rendition of “Beat It.”
“It’s special,” she said of the show, “because this is the year right after Michael Jackson died.”
Not every student was as familiar with why they were all dolled, or zombied up. Kindergartener Matteo Cereola was at a loss for why he was donning an afro-wig. But by the time he leaves the school, he will likely depart with fond memories of at least some of the annual shows.
Ben DiBetta, one of last year’s graduates who now attends The David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, MS/HS 141, couldn’t stay away. He returned with some of his old classmates to help set up the stage and mics.
“Every year when I did the show people came back from the last year,” he said.
http://riverdalepress.com/full.php?sid=12653¤t_edition=2010-06-10
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