Hip-hop dance competition with Harlem students and celebrity judges
NEW YORK, NY (June 6, 2013) — Students from Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, Northside Center for Child Development and the Harlem YMCA gathered for a friendly hip-hop dance competition during the SWEET ENUFF Wellness Challenge Competition on Wednesday, May 29 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, thanks to the generous support of EmblemHealth.
Joining forces with The Metro-Manhattan Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, the evening event capped off the eight-week SWEET ENUFF Wellness Project that combines hip-hop dance fitness with health and life coaching to create a new culture of health that is fun, educational and empowering. Working with professional dancers and health practitioners, certified life coaches and professional chefs to discuss the importance of exercise and diet, the program linked healthy lifestyle choices to kids' long term goals and ambitions.
"EmblemHealth supports the SWEET ENUFF Wellness Project and shares in their commitment to promote healthier lifestyles for young people," said Michelle Paige Paterson, Director, Integrative Wellness Programs of EmblemHealth. "By cultivating an environment that can help alleviate the type 2 diabetes and childhood obesity epidemic, it is truly an asset in the communities we serve."
In addition to showing off their new dance skills during the competition, students displayed "Vision Boards" which presented their own solutions to the obesity and diabetes epidemic.
Each team of students was judged based on enthusiasm, health awareness and dance performance. Team Alive of Northside Center for Child Development won "Most Enthusiastic Performance;" Team Healthylicious of Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change won "Best Health Awareness;" and Team Dream of Harlem YMCA won "Best Dance Performance."
Guest celebrity judges included Ronni Favors, former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater rehearsal director and dancer; Sarita Allen, world-renowned dancer, choreographer and fitness guru; Gary Lewis, professional, classically trained dancer; and Dr. Michelle S. Davis, regional health administrator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in New York.
The SWEET ENUFF Movement Wellness Project Program and Wellness Challenge Competition were produced and directed by SWEET ENUFF Founder Amy Jordan, herself living with diabetes.
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| Students from Northside Center for Child Development. | Students from Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change. |
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| Students from Harlem YMCA. | Denise Ellison attended the event along with EmblemHealth representative Michelle Paige Paterson. |
About EmblemHealth
EmblemHealth, Inc. provides quality health care coverage and administrative services to approximately 3.4 million people. Groups and individuals can choose from a variety of PPO, EPO and HMO plans, as well as coverage for prescription drugs and dental and vision care. EmblemHealth offers a choice of networks, including quality doctors and other health care professionals throughout the region, leading acute care hospitals across the tristate area, and physicians and hospitals across all 50 states. For more information, visit www.emblemhealth.com.