Senior Prom: One Hop This Time

No one, it seems, wants to grow up:

Not everyone at this senior prom was hip to some of the newer dances, like the cha-cha slide or the modern version of the Cotton-Eyed Joe.
But when it was time to do the waltz, the tango, the Macarena, the mambo, the regular cha-cha or the electric slide, these promgoers hit on the ballroom floor with gusto.

More than 500 dancers above age 62 gave new meaning to the words “senior prom” last week at Micali’s Terrace in Bensonhurst.

“I love to dance,” Alfonso Friscia, 67, a retired security guard, said as he waited for the doors to open at 5:30 p.m.

Friscia had arrived at 3 p.m. to be sure he got a good table for him and his date, Pauline (Babe) Sanfilippo, a grandmother from Park Slope.

. . .

This is the sixth year of the prom, sponsored by St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis Neighborhood Improvement Association through a grant from State Assemblyman Peter Abbate (D-Bensonhurst) and City Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Borough Park).

“These seniors wear me out,” Gentile said after dancing with numerous constituents. The proms have become so popular, the politicians now give two annually. Each draws more than 500 seniors.

“This is a way of giving back to people who have done so much all these years,” Abbate said.

No prom is complete without chaperones and this one was no exception. Students from Intermediate School 281 in Bensonhurst escorted seniors to their tables and later joined them on the dance floor.

Connie Costa, 74, taught Gina Lam, 13, and Evelyn Li, 12, how to do the twist.

“They were delightful,” said Costa, who was attending her first prom. “I was in the hospital the night of my high school prom. Appendicitis.”

The chaperones took over the floor to do an energetic demonstration of the Cotton-Eyed Joe. But for most of the evening, young and old together enjoyed popular American dances, as well as folk dances from Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy and Latin America.

Even when DJ Casper’s “Cha Cha Slide” was played, a few seniors like Julia Goldner, 75, kept right up with the clapping, hopping, sliding and stomping.

Anna Buscemi, 91, of Midwood said she didn’t dare sit down.

“I’m very active,” said Buscemi, who also practices yoga. “If I sit down, I won’t get up again. So I don’t sit.”