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Amador Elementary School Principal Michael D’Ambrosio shimmied his way onto national television this week, appearing on the Oct. 19 “Dance Party Travel Trivia” segment of “Live with Kelly and Mark.”
The segment is a popular one on the morning talk show, hosted by married couple Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa. After the segment is introduced, a selected audience member appears on stage to show off their dance moves. A caller is then asked a question about something that happened on a recent show and wins a prize for answering correctly.
D’Ambrosio said he was in New York to fulfill a lifelong dream of attending the New York Knicks home opener the season after the team won an NBA championship. The Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs in five games last June to win their first title in 53 years.
His wife accompanied him on the trip and wanted to see an episode of “Live with Kelly and Mark.” When audience members were asked to audition to be that morning’s trivia dancer, D’Ambrosio’s wife encouraged him to raise his hand to volunteer.
He was initially hesitant, he said.
“I was the assistant head coach for hip-hop a few years ago, but I don’t like attention on myself,” he said. “If I need to act silly for kids, no problem. I’ve done it a million times, but this wasn’t that.”
However, he said, “the husband in me” took over, and he raised his hand for the dance-off.
He was called to the stage and won the spot for the live performance.
When he worked as a teacher, D’Ambrosio said, he used to encourage leadership students who were nervous about public speaking to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable” and would reassure them that “it’s OK to put yourself out there and try something.”
He had to take his own advice, he said.
“If I didn’t be myself and go out there, then I wouldn’t have stuck true to my word,” he said.
When the camera started rolling, it was all about moving to the beat, he said, adding that he knew shaking his body would “get a rise out of the crowd.”
“Once there’s music, it’s hard for me not to dance anyway,” he said.
Consuelos could be seen tapping his note card to the beat of the music as D’Ambrosio danced for about 20 seconds to claps and cheers from the audience.
“That was incredible,” Ripa said when his performance ended. “You have no idea what you did out there.”
“I should be at work right now,” D’Ambrosio replied.
When he returned to campus on Thursday, he said, he was greeted with more than a few comments about his TV appearance. D’Ambrosio said the community has embraced him in his first year as principal, and “this is just another example of how they are doing that.”
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