St. Patrick students were moving to a hip hop beat on Friday at a performance that has become an annual event at the school.

Students from kindergarten to Grade 7 at St. Patrick's School in Maple Ridge spent a week learning hip hop for the fourth year in a row.

Principal Irene Wihak said the instructor Mike Figueroa is "fantastic at motivating the students so that all of them feel successful and want to participate."

"Even our youngest and shyest are willing to stretch themselves and perform in front of over 300 people because of the confidence this program has instilled," Wihak

Each year, the dance theme is different, and this year it was movie music.

Each class was given a song from a particular movie and learned a choreography for it.

Figueroa gave suggestions for costumes that the students could dance in for their parents at Friday's performance.

Even the teachers like to get involved, and Figueroa gives his time to help them learn a dance, too, that the students take great enjoyment in watching, Wihak added.

mrantanen@mrtimes.com