SAN FERNANDO : Kids Dance to Fete Mexican Independence

In a flurry of festive costumes and colorful, handmade decorations, the staff and students of O’Melveny Elementary School in San Fernando celebrated Mexican Independence Day on Friday.

The children showcased a Mexican dance that represented various stages of the country’s history, from an Aztec ceremonial to a currently popular square dance.

O’Melveny, whose student body is 99% Latino, places a strong emphasis on multicultural studies.

Principal Lucky Hemphill said the entire school is involved in an interdisciplinary “mixing” program in which the youngsters learn art, music, physical education and health. The first month of this year’s program was devoted to Mexican history and culture, culminating in the Independence Day celebration.

Third- and fourth-graders at the school performed a folk dance called la rama , or the branch. Their teacher, Melody Dekel, helped her students make Mexican flags and maracas for the celebration and talked to them about the historical significance of the holiday.

“They learned about the independence from Spain using the analogy of the American Independence Day,” Dekel said, who teaches her class in both Spanish and English. “We talked about what it would have felt like for the people of Mexico to gain their rights.”

Ten-year-old Fabiola Ortiz said she made her maracas for la rama out of an empty milk carton. She filled her maracas with dried beans and decorated them with construction paper. “It’s fun to do the dance,” Fabiola said. “I practiced five days for it.”

Adorned with multicolored headdresses they made themselves, some children portrayed the danza de los quetzalez , or the dance of the birds, an Aztec ceremonial dance to a god in the form of a feathered serpent, according to teacher Jean VanderHoff.

At the conclusion of the program, Hemphill led her students and faculty in a rousing cheer of ‘Viva Mexico!’

Ana Feliciano, a parent who attended the show, said her son has been coming home telling her about the new dances he has learned at O’Melveny. “The kids love the music,” Feliciano said. “That is the universal language.”