Spectators and performers alike filled the Craft Theater on Friday, Feb. 9 for Robert Lavelanet’s Charleston Off. His U.S. History and Geography classes watched a video demonstration of the dance, which originated in the 1920s, and were then challenged to compete against each other for extra credit.

“I wasn’t planning to participate,” Malcolm London said. “And I didn’t practice for it because I wasn’t planning to participate, but then he told us we could get points for it and I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’”

Despite his initial reservations, London, along with his last-minute partner Mia Fletcher, won the dance-off, as Judith DeWoskin (guest judge) awarded the top prize: Lavelanet’s homemade banana pudding.

“The only pressure on me is that I wanted everybody to win,” DeWoskin said. “And I love the fact that everybody did this and had so much fun doing it.”

She determined the winners based on the Charleston’s signature step, in which “you twist your toes and swivel.”

The event was a callback to Lavelanet’s days as a student teacher alongside DeWoskin, when they would teach the Charleston during their reading of “The Great Gatsby.”