Kick-Start: As a child, Jo Jo Graham was mesmerized by the costumes, the precision and the sheer number of the Rockettes. So at 13, she started tap dancing. Graham’s passion eventually led her to New York’s American Musical and Dramatic Academy and a chance to fulfill her Radio City Music Hall fantasies. “I auditioned, but I wasn’t tall enough,” she says. “So that dream had to be shelved.”
Class Acts: Graham studied under noted ballroom dancer and instructor Pierre Dulaine, the founder of Dancing Classrooms, an arts-in-education program teaching ballroom dance to fifth- and eighth-grade students. After her first 10-week residency with Dulaine, her goals shifted from a performance career to greater involvement with the program. “I saw 10-year-olds take on a new sense of confidence,” she says. “They trusted me enough to go on this journey with them, [which] is really humbling.”
TRAVELING MUSIC: When Dancing Classrooms began to expand, Graham wanted to bring the program to her hometown. “Dancing Classrooms is about the social development and impact we’re making academically,” Graham says. It is offered in more than 60 Northeast Ohio classrooms, using ballroom dancing to help students learn respect for themselves and those around them.
IB What have you learned from dancing?
JG Dance required that I arrive early and stay late. I wanted to be the best I could be, and it meant that there was always something to be done. I had to say no to a lot of things, like football games on Friday night when there was ballet class on Saturday morning.
IB What have you learned working with kids?
JG Children are so trusting and open-minded. Children have a wonderful ability to let go of negative experiences. … Most of our children come from such experiences, yet they’ll open themselves up one more time provided we give them a safe space.
IB What was the hardest part of starting Dancing Classrooms in Northeast Ohio?
JG The economy was not so wonderful [in 2008]. There was objection after objection. I got noes every moment I asked somebody, but it didn’t matter because I’d seen the program work and knew what it could bring to the community.
IB What’s your favorite thing about New York?
JG The people. They are invigorating in a positive way, and the energy of the city is full of motivated and creative people with an incredible sense of drive and determination.
IB What do you like to do outside of Dancing Classrooms?
JG I love being physically active. Boxing is my latest obsession. I took my first class in November, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Instead of meeting a friend for dinner, we’ll go take a boxing class.
IB A boxing class?
JG It incorporates a lot of what I learned in dance training. It’s not about becoming a professional boxer by any means. It’s a different way of training my body and mind instead of running all the time.
IB What’s your running regimen like?
JG Three days a week I’ll run about six miles. I like to wake up and just go do it.
IB Which do you prefer Dancing with the Stars or America’s Best Dance Crew?
JG Definitely Dancing with the Stars. I give the stars a lot of credit. It’s not easy to go into that type of situation and learn something that is completely outside of their typical area of focus and then try it out on national television.