After South San Francisco Unified School District (SSFUSD) canceled in-person classes to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in March 2020, South San Francisco High School teacher Martin Cruz-Barajas was at a bit of a loss.
Mr. Cruz is the steward of South City High’s iconic ballet folklorico program, which instructs students in the art and performance of traditional Mexican dance.
Like all teachers impacted by cancellations of in-person classes, Mr. Cruz had to transition to virtual classes, but he had the added challenge of figuring out how to implement a performance-based art.
“The last semester [spring 2020] the students just worked on assignments,” said Mr. Cruz “We did not practice anything, starting in March until the end of the school year; that’s the way we handled last year.”
By the time the fall 2020 semester rolled around, Mr. Cruz had figured out a solution.
He set up a green screen, studio lighting, a mixer, speakers, a video camera, LCD monitor, laptop, and an iPad in the South City High auditorium.
“I have my laptop connected to a big screen. That way I can see my students better,” explained Mr. Cruz. “Also I have a mixer. That mixer gets the audio from my iPad, sends it to my computer, and then the computer sends it to Zoom. From my iPad I have a connection to a speaker, so I can hear the music.”
During class, Mr. Cruz performs dance steps with the green screen behind him, while his students attempt to follow his movements via livestream.
It’s like an at-home exercise program reminiscent of Crunch Live or other virtual workouts.
“This is a strange situation,” Mr. Cruz said. “We have to learn so many things in a very short amount of time. We have to be very creative to do what we need to do in order to be able to teach.”
The students have had to adjust as well.
“Every student has a different situation,” said Mr. Cruz. “Some—they have the space to dance. Some others don’t.”
Despite the challenges, though, it’s clear that the students miss ballet folklorico and are eager to return to in-person classes.
“They like to dance,” said Mr. Cruz. They prefer to be moving and learning and sweating and being active.”