Nidia Torres said her daughter, Alexis, a 5th grader at PS 86 in Kingsbridge, cannot stop dancing.

“She’s always moving and shaking all over the house,” Torres said. “She loves every bit of it. She just dances all the time.”

In that case, it’s a good thing Torres’ daughter is one of 25,000 children in New York City this year participating in the American Ballroom Theater Company’s Dancing Classrooms Program. A smaller number of dancing couples from the program recently competed in the quarterfinals of the citywide Mad Hot Ballroom Competition at the Bronx New School in Bedford Park.

Dancing Classrooms worked with 250 city schools this year, teaching students from fourth, fifth and eighth grades. Each participant was given about 20 lessons. At the end of the semester, six couples from seven local schools were picked to compete in the quarterfinals.

Fourth and fifth graders from the Bronx New School, led by team captains Andrew Jackson and Lindsay Gonzalez, performed well enough to move on. They went on to compete in the semifinals in Manhattan, Dec. 14, and then the fall semester finals on Dec. 17, achieving gold medal status in both events.

They are now headed to the Grand Finals at the World Financial Center Winter Garden this June.

At the quarterfinals, held in the crammed cafeteria of the space-starved New School, ballroom partners representing each of the seven schools sported different colored sashes. Those representing the host New School wore orange.

At the start of the competition, the dancers, led by American Ballroom instructor “Mr. Sid,” practiced their moves.

Gathering in two circles, they went through the meringue, rumba, tango and even a swing routine to the song “Hit the Road Jack.” Audience members cheered as couples then fox trotted to the smooth hit, “Fever.”

After their warmup, one at a time, girls in party dresses and young men in button-down shirts and ties concentrated through several rounds of competition. They were cheered on by family, friends and proud schoolteachers, wearing big smiles and sometimes nervous expressions.

In the first round, couples performed an assigned dance they had practiced all semester. In the rounds to follow, students were surprised with a randomly chosen style of dance to perform.

The Dancing Classrooms program was founded 14 years ago by World Champion dancers Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceaux. Just as pictured in the documentary film “Mad Hot Ballroom,” Dancing Classrooms is open in participating schools for every child, regardless of their background or prior dance experience. Instructors strive to bring civility and etiquette to students by emphasizing manners, social interaction and most importantly, teamwork.

“This is introducing into their lives something they would never have experienced otherwise,” said Daniela Delgiorno, an instructor with the program. “We are trying to teach them how to be ladies and gentlemen by looking at their classmates in a different way.”

Torres said the children have worked hard. They were given free lessons, but the practice schedule was rough.

“It’s great, but it definitely demands a lot from the kids,” she said.

Amy Carman, a fifth grade teacher from the Osborn School in Westchester, said this is her second year with American Ballroom’s program.

“It’s such a great experience for these kids,” she said, proudly wearing green to represent her school’s couples. “In the beginning, they’re definitely a little iffy, but by the end of the semester they just love it.”

One of Carman’s students, Andrea Holguin, said, “I got to meet so many new people. This is so much different than dancing by yourself.”