Keep The Arts Alive.

After working on hours of homework the clock strikes five and there’s a stampede of fifteen children endlessly running with excitement like chasing an ice cream truck on the first days of summer. The empty basketball gymnasium is loaded with energy that is so dense there’s anticipation for it to pop. All this vitality is for their weekly dance class with Dynamic Force Dance as a part of their enrichment program at Hyde Park Neighborhood Club (HPNC).

“I like to dance because it’s like gymnastics but you get to move your hips and stuff… that’s more fun. My legs are a weapon,” said Olivia, 7, aftercare student. 

The dance instructor of the day was Joel Villaruel, who taught a session of breakdancing for the five to seven age group. Villaruel always knew that he wanted to teach and bring a positive attitude to the youth to help them discover who they are or going to become. In the hour class there were constant screams of “Watch Me! Watch Me!” and “I can do it! I can do it!” The kids were fearless.

“It’s all about nurturing and culturing hip-hop and so after learning that, I wanted to do the same. I’m reaching the point where I’m the mid-generation so I should be teaching the young generation as they did me.”

Dynamic Force Dance (DFD) is a performance program that gives kids the chance to express themselves through the arts by uniting youth from different race, religion and soci-economic backgrounds. They encourage kids to intuitively free their mind and build creativity, confidence, coordination and communication skills. The owners share an intense passion to inspire today’s dance talent by teaching through partnerships. Partnerships are after-school programs that allow their company to teach dance for free or at a fractioned price to the kids in their enrichment organization. Their goal is to open up a new world for children who never or will never be exposed to dance in their lifetime.

Sheena Baskerville, CEO and Founder of Dynamic Force Dance, said, “We are big for non-for-profit we’re big on diversity and soci-economic areas, we want to bring everyone together we felt if we went the route of partnerships that would expand us to all these different neighborhoods with all this diversity instead of being molded into this stereotype.”

Baskerville runs the company with Lisa Soloman, CFO, co-founder and psychology graduate of DePaul University. Once this pair met they knew they were going to be best friends, now their relationship is more like sisters. While talking to them inside-joke intertwine constantly with A.D.D. subject changes. As we got to the core of the topic after rambling about Baskerville’s father being the weatherman of CBS-2, Starbucks lines, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, a yogi friend’s pregnancy and the valet off Hubbard Street crashing her car, it clicked…they saw everything eye-to-eye…everything.

Obviously this is what can make a business crash or succeed. However, they’re in a positive place.

“We are usually on the same track that’s why we are great partners…when I went to college I knew I wanted to work with children and I kinda stopped dancing. Then Sheena and I met and we knew that’s what we had in common. I miss it, it’s the one thing I wish I never gave up, but I felt like I could fix that. This is the perfect time. This is the right time in our lives where we can make a change and to give kids that chance,” said Soloman.

 

Cultural programs like Hyde Park Neighborhood Club want to dedicate time to extracurricular activities, which is the focus of DFD. The kids always look forward to seeing Baskerville and Soloman because they get to experience something different.

“I love little kids they’re so honest they’re so real…if you catch them at their young age they’re not forced, they have that innocence of if they like it or if they don’t, you know you’re not forcing anything, its just happiness of what they choose to like,” said Baskerville. 

Hamzeh Jabber, youth counselor at HPNC, said, “Just because someone wants to come here and work with these kids doesn’t necessarily mean that they know what they’re doing with kids. But it is also the feeling they got the moment they met all the kids. The kids asked about them the next day, they look forward to seeing them and building that relationship, it’s awesome.” 

For an after school program this is valuable because they see how dance is affecting their physical and mental energy. Jabber discussed how parents were not keen on having their child dance and wanted them to focus more on homework. He explained that doing homework for three-hours straight will burn the brain and there needs to be an alternative break to make the brain pliable.

“I mean, some of our parents initially, they were really bent at not stopping homework…they didn’t want us to take their kids to the enrichment programs. Then they realized how lethargic their kids looked afterwards and how some of them were upset that they weren’t allowed to participate in the activities…and I think that’s when parents sat in these classes and saw how happy their kids were.”

DFD began their fourth partnership and hired a few new teachers to get ready for the new year with potential to add two new partnerships. As for a long-term goal for 2014, talking about the future brought up giddy jitters giving them hesitation to share or not share some news. They hinted at saying one of the partnerships will be “a big deal…a huge deal” and ended with the hopes of opening a storefront studio. 

“It is so disappointing to me when a child comes up to us and they know that they can’t afford it and we don’t want that to stop them because we want to show them something that will open up opportunities for them for their future, in their life, I believe that is something that they shouldn’t be denied,” said Soloman. 

To keep kids from all economic backgrounds around they provide scholarships with the Chicago park district. Eventually when the open their own storefront studio, they will be true to their word and keep these scholarships around. They want to make sure the demographic they are connecting currently will stick with them to continue learning and discovering a passion for the arts.

Dynamic Force Dance teaches through technique training, social workshops, performances and camp programs based around ballet, jazz, hip hop and breakdancing.  They work with social media to keep connected with their students and parents via Instagram (@dynamicforcedance) and Facebook. Updates and reminders for when to register for classes or workshops are posted monthly. For the rest of the fall season, Dynamic Force Dance will be at Hyde Park Neighborhood Club on Tuesdays and Fridays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“The arts bring out creativity, self-esteem, confidence, discipline, its one thing to learn something to have it or not, but with the arts you can absorb the skill that can take you farther in life.”