It was a free foxtrot lesson at the Seattle Center that got Elijah Clayton into ballroom dancing.

“After I took the class I said ‘Mom, I’m dancing — I’m really dancing,’” says Elijah.

Now 11, Elijah of Renton was only 6 during that lesson. Shortly after, he signed up for lessons at a Bellevue ballroom dance studio. His sister Ayana Pagan, 9, followed suit.

Brother and sister have been dancing four years. Both also fared well at the NDCA (National Dance Council of America) U.S. National Amateur Dancesport Championships in Provo, Utah, March 13-15.

Elijah and his dance partner, Hannah Shinsato, 11, took first places in the standard and Latin competitions in the Pre-Teen Syllabus category (ages 12 and under.) Ayana and her dance partner Gabriel Bucinno, 9, earned fourth in standard and fifth in Latin, also in the Pre-Teen Syllabus category. The Latin category included the samba and Casanova, and the standard the waltz and quick step.

Before the Utah competition, Elijah and Ayana had danced as far away as Portland and Idaho, but it was their first national competition. They went against 28 couples in standard and 30 couples in Latin.

Elijah and Hannah left nationals with a trophy.

“It was a national competition, so that’s very exciting,” Elijah says of their win. “I was actually surprised. This is my first time at a national competition, so I was shocked to find out I was going to win.”

Ayana was also pleasantly surprised by her finish, especially since she has not been dancing long with Bucinno.

“It was kind of scary at first,” she says. “When you walk out and have a partner you’ve been dancing with for six months, you kind of think you won’t really do that good, but you actually get kind of surprised by how good you do.”

Father Eric Clayton was less surprised by his children’s high finishes.

“If you see my son move, you’d think he had some Latin in his blood — he moves really good, and my daughter moves really good,” Eric says. Eric is African American and his wife Kim is white.

Performing the correct steps is important at the Pre-Teen Syllabus level, Eric says. But his children know dancing is about more than accuracy.

“A lot of those kids really do the steps real well, but they don’t have the performance quality my kids have,” he says. “And I’m not just saying that ‘cause I’m their dad. I’ve heard other people get excited about watching them dance.”

Before his children got good,

Eric Clayton had his doubts about dancing.

“I’m a kid from Chicago, 53 years old,” he says. “I played basketball, all that kind of stuff. I’m not into dances and that kind of stuff. But my eyes have been opened to what tremendous athletes those kids are.”

Elijah also plays football, for the Renton Rangers.

“They’re pretty much even,” he says of football and ballroom dancing.

Eric is grateful dancing has not diminished his son’s football skills.

“For a while I thought, ‘He’s getting into dancing, that’s going to mess up his chances at sports, turn him into a sissy boy.’ But his footwork has improved because of ballroom dancing.”

When he was just 100 pounds, Elijah took on a 260-pound football opponent, Eric says.

“This idea that ballroom dancers are dainty its just not cutting it with him.”

Ballroom dancing has taught Elijah more than just fancy footwork.

“He’s got the best of both worlds,”Eric says, “Because of ballroom dancing he knows how to treat young girls with real flair.”

Elijah’s favorite ballroom dance is the pasodoble, a Latin dance whose name in Spanish means double-step.

“It’s actually called the dance of the bullfight, where the lady is supposed to be the cape of the matador and the man is the matador,” Elijah says. “So there’s stomping and really fast, sharp moves.”

His sister Ayana prefers the cha-cha, also because of its fast movement. She wants to become a professional dancer, and then teach children to ballroom dance at her own ballroom.

Elijah wants to compete at Blackpool Dance Festival, the world’s largest dancing competition, held in England.

If Elijah and Ayana continue to improve at their current rate, those dreams may just come true.

“I’m telling you they are really gifted performers,” Eric says. “Their footwork is just getting better and better.”

Emily Garland can be reached at emily.garland@reporternewspapers.com or (425) 255-3484, x. 5052.