Yelling over Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock N’ Roll” in a cafeteria at John McClaren elementary school, Jessica Lagedrost informed her 10 students that they wouldn’t be getting a snack if they don’t finish dance class.

Lagedrost, 25, a senior dance major who is part of the Village Dancers, an SF State community-service learning project, which sends SF State students into communities to teach at-risk youth in after school programs various types of dance.

On Nov. 12, as part of the Village Dancers program, a performance titled "New Moves Children’s Concert," will be held in the McKenna Theatre at SF State and will feature about 150 kids ranging in age from 5 to 15.

“It’s a good way for us to get out into the community, and teach on-site,” said Lagedrost, who has been involved with the program at John McClaren for three years. “We come up with the material and put the choreography together ourselves.”

Village Dancers was started in 2001 by SF State professor Albirda Rose as a way to reach out to kids who are rarely given the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities, such as dance. SF State students in the program arrange the choreography.

The learning project is comprised of three after-school programs and one program through a church. Like John McClaren elementary school, most of the programs this semester are in Visitacion Valley. In the past, schools in Western Addition, Bay View and Daly City have also participated.

“We give them an opportunity to get up on stage and perform for their friends and family and be proud of what they’ve done,” said Lagedrost, who is also the lead teacher. “They also get a chance to get out of Visitacion Valley and visit a college campus.”

At John McClaren elementary school, the kids in the program range in age from 5 to 7 and have been rehearsing for the past six weeks on their dance routine. Lagedrost and two other SF State students are teaching the kids a tap dancing routine for the upcoming concert.

SF State student teacher Vanessa Sanchez, 22, a senior child and family relations major, who is minoring in dance, said teaching tap has been especially fulfilling because not only is it her personal specialty as a dancer, but it has never been taught in the entire program to date.

The concert will also feature dance routines that combine elements of hip hop, swing and praise dancing. There will also be a demonstration on Katherine Dunham technique, a well-known dancer who died in June 2006.

“They teach us their own dancing technique. We see what their bodies are capable of doing and try to incorporate that into the routine,” said student teacher Gillian Austin, 21, an SF State child and adolescent development major. “Teaching their style of dance is like learning a new culture.”

While the kids at John McClaren elementary may like inventing their own dance moves, they also appreciate aspects of the routine they have been taught.

“I like when we do the rock ‘n’ roll part because we get to play air-guitar,” said Kashiya Patterson, 7, one of the kids in the program.

The "New Moves Children’s Concert" will have its only performance on Nov. 12 at the McKenna Theatre at 3 p.m. Admission is free.