Photos: The Rhythms Are Academic at the Dr. Julian Nava Learning Academy School of Art and Culture: Learning Math, Social Studies and Language Arts through Dance

Swirling their full, ruffled skirts like the soothing waves of a balmy Pacific Ocean, first one way and then another,  in time with the lyrical music, the girls also clicked a rhythm  that has been repeated in folklorico dances for decades in Sinaloa and Nayarit, coastal states of western Mexico.

As the seventh-grade students mastered the flowing movements demonstrated by teaching artist JohnAvalos Rios, they also learned concepts of math, social science, history and culture thanks to a partnership between the Los Angeles Music Center and the Dr. Julian Nava Learning Academy School of Art and Culture in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

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Photos by: Mayra Ramirez

Article by: Gayle Pollard-Terry

Posted: February 6, 2012