Dance Buddies: A Mid-Year Report

We may only be at around the midpoint of the school year, but our Dance Buddies program is so full-of-joy, we just have to share an update.

Dance Buddies, the longstanding partnership between LIHSA and Rosemary Kennedy School, brings students together to dance. LIHSA students volunteer their time for an hour each month to share their love of dance with students from Rosemary Kennedy School. The program thrives under the direction of Natalie L’Etoile, LIHSA’s Dance Faculty, and Courtney Mercardo, Rosemary Kennedy’s Music Teacher and will culminate in a performance later this year.

Anna McCormick from Huntington High School is in her second year in the Dance Buddies program and treasures her memory of last year’s end-of-year performance. She calls the program, “Fulfilling, fun and energetic. It’s so great to make other people happy and really nice to see the smiles on their faces.”

Denver Hanson from Lindenhurst High School joined Dance Buddies after seeing a culminating performance. She enjoys that the dances are simpler than her typical LIHSA choreography but “really fun.” Each month, she shares, LIHSA and Kennedy students gather and watch a video from the previous month to refresh their memory on previous dance moves and then learn new choreography.

“Participating has given me the opportunity to see from a new lens what joy dance can bring,” shares Diana Fogel from Northport High School. “I love watching how much fun my dance buddy has!”

Emma Palmieri from Kings Park School District agrees. “It’s an amazing opportunity to spread the aura of dance. Dance buddies has helped shape me as an artist in the sense that dance can be so many different things. It spreads joy to others and connects community and friendships.”

Save the date: the culminating Dance Buddies performance will take place Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at the Rosemary Kennedy School. And we can guarantee – the performers and audience alike will leave the event with hearts full of joy! Keep scrolling to see photo galleries from past Dance Buddies events.