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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Conor Sheary ready for next step

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; They joined hands and skipped around, struck the floor with heels and toes and at one point pantomimed a finger-wagging scolding to an imaginary boy named Johnny.</p><p>That last bit was part of a Polish folk dance, and the 12 members of the Good Shepherd Academy Dance Club who showed up for a recent after-school dance session seemed to especially enjoy chanting the lyrics that accompanied it:</p><p>&#8220;Karolinka, pretty maid, pretty maid, picked some flowers in the glade, in the glade. Johnny showed up with a laugh, broke her basket right in half. No, no, no! No, no no! Pay for it and out you go!&#8221;</p><p>Taught by their music teacher, Raphael Micca, the youngsters also practiced a lively, hoedown-style square dance, a stately court dance that looked like a &#8220;Downton Abbey&#8221; celebration and an Irish dance called Bridge of Athlone that involved taking turns ducking through a tunnel of the other kids&#8217; arms.</p><p>When it was time for the Virginia Reel, dancers worked their way through two lines, giving each person a twirl just as generations have done before them.</p><p>&#8220;This dates back to England in the 1500s, and it was popular in Colonial America,&#8221; Micca told his protegees. &#8220;They did it at Christmas parties and it gave them a chance to say hello, or goodnight and Merry Christmas to everybody.&#8221;</p><p>With all this turning-by-the-elbow, Micca warned the students, they might get dizzy. But, he said, &#8220;The dizziness is part of the fun.&#8221;</p><p>The Good Shepherd Academy Dance Club has been going strong since the Colorful China troupe of dancers and singers brought a touch of Asian artistry to the Kingston school in October.</p><p>Micca had asked for volunteers to learn some American-style dances to show the visitors, and after that cultural-exchange effort, some of the children wanted to keep on dancing.</p><p>&#8220;This is the core group,&#8221; he said, adding any other students are welcome to join them on Mondays after school.</p><p>So, why do these kids enjoy dancing so much?</p><p>&#8220;You get to see your friends every week,&#8221; 10-year-old Heidi Williams said.</p><p>&#8220;We get to do a lot of dances from different cultures,&#8221; said Jordyn Dutko, 11.</p><p>&#8220;Mr. Micca is a good teacher,&#8221; 11-year-old Jessica Phares added.</p><p>By the way, what is gym class like at Good Shepherd?</p><p>&#8220;We run around,&#8221; said Avery Cole, 11.</p><p>&#8220;We play basketball and kickball,&#8221; said Abigail Mackesy, 12</p><p>What&#8217;s more fun, gym class or dance club?</p><p>&#8220;I prefer the dancing,&#8221; said 10-year-old Cally Williams, who is not related to Heidi.</p><p>&#8220;I like them equally,&#8221; said 11-year-old Delaney Butler.</p><p>When a reporter asked the group if dancing was like a sport, all 12 raised their hands to say yes.</p><p>&#8220;It requires a lot of time and practice,&#8221; 12-year-old Jack Riley explained.</p><p>Some club members said they&#8217;ve been sharing what they&#8217;ve learned.</p><p>Sister and brother Mae, 9, and Chas Mathis Baliatico, 11, are teaching two younger siblings, and Hunter Wesolowski, 12, is teaching a younger cousin.</p><p>Lily Wickizer has a 4-year-old sister with whom she wants to share the steps. &#8220;She doesn&#8217;t always listen,&#8221; Lily said with a perplexed smile.</p><p>Some of the dance club members said they&#8217;d like to perform, and Micca expects they&#8217;ll soon visit local nursing homes to do just that. But, he said, being in the club is more about participating and interacting with each other than being on a stage.</p><p>&#8220;So many connections today are superficial and electronic,&#8221; he said, pointing out the dancers are forging a more natural bond of friendship.</p><p>&#8220;If you had told me, even five years ago, that I&#8217;d be doing this, I wouldn&#8217;t have believed you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When I took a dance class at school, I was petrified.&#8221;</p><p>During a more recent intensive music course in West Chester, Micca said he became intrigued with the folk dancing the teacher emphasized.</p><p>Deciding he &#8220;needed to know more&#8221; he subsequently enrolled in a week-long course in West Virginia, sponsored by the Country Dance and Song Society.</p><p>&#8220;As I drove up to the place, I thought, what am I getting myself into? But it was a really transformative week,&#8221; Micca said, describing a moment when about 100 dancers joined hands in a line that twisted and turned so each person could &#8220;pass all these smiling faces.&#8221;</p><p>Micca recreated a small-scale version of that scene at the end of a recent dance club session, inviting the Good Shepherd dancers to join hands and follow him in a graceful, flowing line that formed concentric circles.</p><p>&#8220;Round and round we go,&#8221; they sang as they danced. &#8220;We hold each other&#8217;s hands and weave our lives in a circle. Our love is strong and the dance goes on.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I love that message,&#8221; Micca said afterward. &#8220;And I want them to see the beauty and fun of dancing in a wholesome way.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A traditional dance called the Virginia Reel gives each person a chance to turn most of the participants by the elbow. Here, Heidi Williams and Jessica Phares do the honors. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A traditional dance called the Virginia Reel gives each person a chance to turn most of the participants by the elbow. Here, Heidi Williams and Jessica Phares do the honors. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hunter Wesolowski and Jack Riley, both 12, skip sideways, or chass&#232;, between two lines of fellow dancers. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hunter Wesolowski and Jack Riley, both 12, skip sideways, or chass&#232;, between two lines of fellow dancers. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Avery Cole, 11, makes her way through the tunnel of classmates while her partner Jessica Phares, 11, goes around the outside to meet her at the bottom of the line. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Avery Cole, 11, makes her way through the tunnel of classmates while her partner Jessica Phares, 11, goes around the outside to meet her at the bottom of the line. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Raphael Micca teaches students helps students go over the hand motions that accompany a folk dance as the Good Shepherd Academy Dance Club starts its weekly afterschool meeting. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Raphael Micca teaches students helps students go over the hand motions that accompany a folk dance as the Good Shepherd Academy Dance Club starts its weekly afterschool meeting. </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Heidi Williams and Cally Williams, both 10, and not related, work on the hand sequence that is part of a folk dance. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Heidi Williams and Cally Williams, both 10, and not related, work on the hand sequence that is part of a folk dance. </caption4><photoCredit4></photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">As they practice an ethnic folk dance, Delaney Butler, 11, and Mae Mathis Baliatico, 9, wag their fingers to scold an imaginary youth who broke a basket. &#8216;No, no, no, pay for it and out you go!&#8217; are the words that accompany the movement. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121915kidsfolkdance6.jpg</photo5><caption5>As they practice an ethnic folk dance, Delaney Butler, 11, and Mae Mathis Baliatico, 9, wag their fingers to scold an imaginary youth who broke a basket. &#8216;No, no, no, pay for it and out you go!&#8217; are the words that accompany the movement. </caption5><photoCredit5></photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Good Shepherd Academy Dance Club keeps folk dancing traditions alive</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Folk dancing with Good Shepherd Academy’s Dance Club