Local students dance for homeless kids' 'chance' (print)
C.H.A.N.C.E., a student organization at Clairton Education Center in Clairton, Pa., put on its third annual spring dance show this April. Trevor Miles, a Point Park student, served as lead choreographer for the production. Proceeds from the show benefited the Homeless Children's Education Fund.
A Giving Community
Clairton is a small steel town nestled along the edges of the Mon River just outside McKeesport. When the steel industry collapsed, the city went with it. What’s left of this once-flourishing area is a modest community facing many of the problems typical of a distressed inner city: crime, drugs and even poverty.
But adversity hasn’t stopped the giving nature of its residents, particularly the younger ones.
In 2007, Clairton High School students created C.H.A.N.C.E., an organization aimed at raising money for charities that serve homeless and otherwise underprivileged populations.
“This is really a leadership group,” said Maureen McGarvey, a school counselor and head of the organization, whose acronym stands for Creating Hope and Newfound Courage Everywhere. She says her students were inspired to start their own charity after seeing a presentation from another charity group, the Friends of Danang, which raises money for humanitarian efforts around the city of Danang, Vietnam.
Dancing from the Heart
Since its inception his senior year of high school, Trevor Miles, now an Ad/PR major at Point Park University, has served as a head choreographer for the annual C.H.A.N.C.E. spring dance show, a series that has come to be known as Dance for their Chance. It is the organization’s biggest and most popular event of the year.
The show has traditionally supported the Friends of Danang, but this year students decided to help out another charity, the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, or the HCEF.
“The kids wanted to switch it up this year,” Miles said. “We all thought this group was so fitting for us.”
Since he is no longer a student at Clairton, Miles made bi-weekly trips from his downtown residence back to his alma mater to work with the kids on the routines he says he created in his spare time outside of class.
“It can be tough having to travel out there, but dancing and performing is something I love to do,” he said. “Teaching these kids is not only fun for me, but it’s fun for them. The fact that we can have fun and help other people at the same time is a win-win situation.”
The Big Show click the picture to launch the slideshow
The show began with a brief introduction from McGarvey who introduced the members of C.H.A.N.C.E.. Dionne Cahillane, a board member from the HCEF, spoke to express her sincere gratitude to the organization for choosing to support her cause.
Then, it was time for the dancing to begin. Miles’ choreography incorporated various genres of dance, ranging from modern to hip hop and from vogue to step. Many of the routines were set to long tracks with mixes of songs from a broad range of artists. Songs from Lady Gaga, Kid Sister, Me’Shelle N’degecello and Mary J. Blige were all featured in a single routine.
Miles says he doesn’t like to dance to the same song for too long because he gets “bored” and believes the audience will too. He says he also likes to entertain the crowd with tricks like acrobatics and flips. At one point in the show, he did a backward somersault off the stage onto the floor several feet below.
It is a tradition to end every show with a teacher’s dance. It’s the number that usually gets the most audience fanfare, and this year was no exception.
Miles’ choreographed the routine to “Work,” a high-energy club song by R&B singer Ciara. The routine had elements of hip-hop and vogue, a dance of expression started in the underground clubs of New York in the early 80s and popularized by Madonna soon after.
Miles had students and teachers “battling” on the dance floor before having everyone come together for some synchronized group moves. Watch the video below to see the routine in its entirety.
By the time the show was over, C.H.A.N.C.E. raised over $1,700 for the HCEF through ticket sales and the Chinese auction. Besides doing a lot of good, the show proved to be entertaining for the audience.
“Those dances were incredible,” said Ashley Zink, a Clairton junior who attended the show. “All those students did their thing up there.”
Miles was pleased, too.
“We did it, I pulled it off,” he said immediately after the show, still trying to catch his breath.
Miles says that he is already hard at work on routines for next year’s show. He plans to begin rehearsals earlier this year than in the past—in the beginning of May once he finishes up with school.
"Work" Routine
