Kindergarten teacher shows students how to salsa and shimmy
ByInside Edition StaffRead the full article and watch the video at InsideEdition.com >
A kindergarten teacher in Washington, D.C., is adding some flavor to his curriculum by showing his young students how to dance.
Edwin Sorto teaches his students how to salsa and get down to the beat at KIPP DC Promise Academy. Sorto presides over up to 30 kids, 45 minutes at a time.
“I work with African-American kids in underserved communities and it’s joyful to see those kids show their talent and show their expression through dance,” Sorto, a professional dancer, told InsideEdition.com.
He has posted the videos of his students to Facebook, where they have racked up millions of views.
Sorto, who has been dancing for six years, says the kids wanted to strut their stuff after he showed them a video of him dancing.
He recalled: “I told them that I was a dancer, showed them a couple videos and… they were like, ‘Let me see some moves.'”
After he showed them what to do, “they were like, ‘Woah! Woah!’” he said.
He said they started with the basics before gradually working their way up to salsa and choreography.
“They pick it up so fast and the talent they have is incredible,” he said.
Sorto said that through dance, he also teaches the kids how to be humble.
“I come from a different background, so I wanted to bring something different to the kids, something that they don’t get exposed to where they live or something that they probably have to pay to go somewhere and learn it,” he said.