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Spotlight New Jersey: It Takes a Borough 

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News 12 Staff

615spotlightnj2_2024-06-15-09-42-55

Ted Daley. Uh Chris Cabrera, Pedro Ortiz, Jason Meisler. No, your family doesn't know anything about you doing this? How did you keep that a secret? Well, it's Friday night practices. So they're in bed. Uh, my wife's the only one that knows, uh, but outside of my, like in laws and my family, no one knows. I'm doing the dance. So the Spanish in your blood says I got to, to move. I'm still young enough to do it. These guys, I have to keep up with these guys nonetheless. They're, they're cut in a rug just like anybody else. So, uh it's just the rhythm. It's just fun. Like Miss Jackie and Miss Linda have again, made it so easy for us to learn the routine in such a short period of time. Uh, but it's, it's been fun. It really has. It's been a workout also. It is a workout. Now. What's it like learning that routine? It's a lot of fun. A little challenging. But Miss Linda, Miss Jackie puts us through the test and the ringers and we get it done and you all seem to work together as a unit. Yeah. Yeah, we help each other out. Um You know, a lot of between uh practice runs. Uh A lot of people have individual questions and we're all stepping up to help each other. And what about you? What's this like for you? The whole experience? Uh It's been, it's been wonderful all these years. Um I'm sad that it's ending this year. This will be my last year doing it. Um But uh Jackie and Miss Linda make the choreography even for an older guy like me, very easy to learn. And, but I have to say I practice it every day at home and then we spend time before the dances several hours before our dance, time up in the library at the dance studio and we practice as a team. So it's been really a great experience. I've made some great dad friends as well. So I'm, I'm really happy to have done this over the years. So you'd agree. It gets greater later. Yeah, I gotta admit it doesn't get easier, but it gets greater thing. You said you gotta love Linda. She is so full of energy TV. Personality, Bevy Smith, by the way, is known for saying that it gets greater later.

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615spotlightnj3_2024-06-15-13-19-38

Uh My name is Olivia Del Duca and I'm the operations director here at Gotta Dance. Um This is Gotta Dance's 36th year and we are the heart of dancing Car, New Jersey with locations in Basking Ridge, Bridgewater Martinsville, and Warren. My name is Jackie Carelli. I am a dance educator here at Gotta Dance and I am also the co-director of dancing dance and your dad used to dance. My dad did do the dad's dance for one year when I was very young and he never did it after that. He didn't have the courage like the rest of them do. Yeah, Linda Kiltinan dance educator and coach of the dancing dads. Would you also say you are the drill sergeant that kicks their behind? Just a little. How long have you been here? I've been here 24 years. Your kids love you all they talk about is my dad, my dad's dancing Mandy Lee kites. I'm the director of Quality Assurance and we're just so happy to be bringing the sense of community and dance to everyone. Um That's really our goal here at Gotta Dance is to share the love of dance with everybody and that extends all the way to our dancing. Dad. Not, how long have you had the dancing dance program ever since we were a studio? So, over 35 years, I just love watching them dance. I can't get enough of it.

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616spotlightnj4_2024-06-16-09-51-36

Right. Yes. OK. And this Linda, what do you bring to each class? You are so animated and lively. My goal is to make class fun leaving there energized and wanna come. Yeah. Well, the first practice, they're very scared of me really. They step back and by the third, they have so much confidence and that's when I feel good. I feel like we all did it together and it's wonderful. My dad was a dancing dad to watch and I would be with my dad helping him and he couldn't figure out his right foot from the left foot and then they get it and they just are amazing. So I'm proud as a dance teacher. That is probably one of my most favorite things. It's to watch people grow, it's to watch people become confident. I'm firm believer like the studio where everybody deserves the chance to dance and to watch everyone get the chance to dance and to thrive is it's magical. Gotta dance is such a special place. We have classes from ages 2.5, all the way up to adults and so many other opportunities like our dancing dance program just amazing. That we get to see everyone and anyone dance.

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616spotlightnj5_2024-06-16-09-53-01

Everybody. I'm Mandy Leeks and I'm the director of Quality Assurance here. I gotta Dance. Hi, I'm Linda Kiltinan, dance educator and the coach for the dancing dads. Hi, I'm Ju Morales and I'm a dancing dad. Hi, Jackie Chiarelli. I am a dance educator and co coach of the dancing dads here at Gotta Dance. Hello, I'm Olivia Delduca. I'm the operations director here at Gotta Dance. Olivia, how did you all keep this going during the pandemic? Yeah. So um March 2020 when the pandemic first hit, we knew one thing that we wanted to keep everyone dancing. It was only a few short months away. Our big shows, everyone's been practicing for months and we knew we wanted to keep it alive. One being our dancing dads and all of our dancers here kept dancing at home and we put on a whole virtual show. About 13 of them, we did what we would have done on stage just virtually on TV. So we had over 100 dancing dads join us at here. The pandemic was a weird time. We can all say that. Uh and we showed up which they showed up for us we showed up for them. We smiled. We had a good time. We kept the magic alive even through a screen. I watched a lot of video we uh filmed in, in our foyer in our back deck. Uh and then the videos were put together. They look great. How do you enjoy this program? I love it. Now, my, my wife now, well, I was coerced into it by my wife. I was sitting in the audience and saying, look at those dads dancing up there. My wife was like, it's gonna be you. I was like, no. And then here I'm like eight years later. Here I am. What kept you going? You know, uh You know, in part it's Linda Jackie, the whole team, they make a front. She is a drill sergeant but she, you know, she doesn't stop smiling. She's just a lot of fun and Jackie Jackie the same. Um You know, for my daughter, of course, uh for the memories. Uh So that's, that's why I keep doing it. And how long does it take you to catch on to the choreography? Uh Usually it takes me to the last minute. Frankly, we're practicing right, right before the show. We're, we're upstairs at the college prac practicing. Uh But yeah, uh this, this year, I'm, I'm a little more caught up because you guys came along. So I'm a little in a better place. I didn't wanna look horrible again. I'm their number one fan. Well, they dancers are and it's so happy to see the kids come in and go. Hi, dad is a dancing dad, my dad. So they are so proud. So thank you. Do the parents ever get to dance with their kids on stage? They do they get to come out for the finale together. So we do a big group finale at the end of the show for all the dancers in the show and the dads get to come out with their dancers then and it's such a great moment. We also bring the dancers backstage to watch their dads dance while the numbers going on. So they're all standing in the wings watching their dads do the dance. And it's just, it's an amazing moment. Like I said before, we offer ages 2.5 to adults. We have styles back play tap, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, Modern Point Broadway acrobatics a lot. So I think I didn't name them all. Um On top of that, taking weekly classes, we have many different teams, companies like the Nutcracker, we have heartbeat dance team for all these different age groups. We have dance teams for all of our dancers.

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616spotlightnjfinal_2024-06-16-13-02-06

Then you say. Yep, they were ready for that high energy music. Thank you to our creative editor, Grace Roland for putting the dancing dad segments together.

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News 12’s Della Crews spoke to the Dancing Dads crew to learn more about the program.

Spotlight New Jersey: Dancing Dads at Gotta Dance

News 12’s Della Crews spoke to the Dancing Dads crew to learn more about the program.

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