Countywide : 5th-Graders to Dance in L.A. Festival

The 18 fifth-grade students moved uncertainly through the dance routine during rehearsal at Rio Lindo School in Oxnard for next week’s 22nd annual Children’s Holiday Festival in Los Angeles.

Their school is one of 23 in Ventura County that will send fifth-grade students to the festival at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which this year will feature a performance by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

As part of its plan to introduce children to the arts, the Music Center Education Division distributes study guides to participating schools.

Classroom exercises include a comparison of the lyrics of patriotic songs from various countries, studying the vocal style of popular singers and rehearsing three songs for the festival.

And then there is the dance that, with a little practice, thousands of fifth-grade students will perform each day during the festival.

After an hour of rehearsal, the wavering lines of Rio Lindo students were beginning to take on a practiced look. Taped instructions, accompanied by a syncopated beat, led them time and again through the intricate steps.

Prompted by Rio Lindo teacher Renee Lane, the students started the routine from the top. “All join hands and circle left ... five, six, seven, eight ... back and clap, all join hands and slide,” said the voice on the tape.

Despite the long practice on a warm afternoon, the mood of the children was decidedly upbeat.

As the students formed two lines and passed each other in opposite directions, some of the students exchanged unscripted high-five slaps.

“You go here ,” one said as two students nearly collided.

“You’re her partner,” said another.

The Rio Lindo students will be among 32,000 fifth-graders expected to attend twice-daily performances throughout the week by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, directed by Paul Salamunovich.

The concert will feature a variety of cultures and traditional songs, ranging from “Yankee Doodle” and “Amazing Grace” to the Mexican folk song “Las Mananitas.”

Each year, students who attend the festival see a different resident group of the Music Center: the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles Music Center Opera or the Master Chorale.

“This is a wonderful way to introduce the Music Center and art world to these fifth-grade students,” said Alison Moore, a Music Center spokeswoman. “The purpose of the festival is not just to entertain the kids, but to help them learn about the performing arts.”