By: Teresa Black, Staff Writer ELGIN — At first it looked liked performers faced a tough crowd Tuesday at Gifford Street High School.
The audience was made up of snickering teenagers, for one, and the musical sketch group came bringing well-worn messages condemning drugs and violence.
But perhaps because the messengers were roughly their same age — and sprinkled in live pop songs and Justin Timberlake-style dance moves — the students gradually warmed to the show.
"That's why these guys are so effective — they're peers," said Una Allison, whose son is part of the MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe. "They listen, and they pay attention."
The nine-member MWAH!, an acronym for Messages Which Are Hopeful!, filled the alternative school's gym with music and dance Tuesday morning and took on bullying, race and violence in a series of skits.
Founded 11 years ago by a former police social worker, the Aurora-based company of mostly teens travels around the Chicago area about twice a month to perform at schools and youth organizations.
The group jolted students to attention at the start of the show with a mock scuffle between two actors, which culminated in several shoves and racial epithets.
As the surprised reaction from the audience died down, a 10-year-old boy with a shock of blond hair talked to the crowd about the use of that kind of language. A portion of Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech played in the background.
The young actors, ages 10 to 26, talked frankly about racial differences, depression, suicide and dating violence.
At times, performers bared their souls. Chris Allison, 13, of Aurora, acted out a sketch about his experience with bullying. Allison said he suffered taunting at school "because I love to dance and sing." A background voiceover used painful words he'd been called by classmates.
Afterward, his mother said the piece initially was too personal for the teen to perform himself, and another actor took that job. Now, however, Allison takes the stage as a way to help deal with the experience, and his main perpetrator since has moved away from the school. "A good message"
In
lighter moments, the MWAH! performers burst into song and dance. The ensemble
sang The Black Eyed Peas' hit Where is the Love? as a boisterous closer.
Jemell Moore, dressed like many audience members in baggy pants and a sports jersey, shared with students that he, too, attended an alternative school like Gifford.
"I feel you guys, as far as trying to get life back on the right track," Moore said.
Science teacher Nicolette Kowalski, Gifford's coordinator of safe and drug-free schools program, said she contacted the group last year to schedule a performance but learned the cost was too pricey for the school's budget. The group had a cancellation recently, though, and called Gifford to offer a show for free.
The
group's director, Ray Moffitt, has longtime experience working with teens. Twenty
years ago he founded a breakdance team as a social worker with west-suburban
Maywood Police Department.
The
slight, white-haired Moffitt said teens had to discard gang ties to take part.
"They had to turn their hats straight and their lives straight," he said. "I just saw the arts as being a real alternative to gangs, and the kids ate it up."
MWAH!
is not made up of former gang members, but the idea stemmed from the Maywood
group, Moffitt said. Troupe members must be drug-free and not smoke. Moffitt
also sometimes asks for copies of report cards if participants' grades aren't
up to snuff.
Member
Andrew Tamez-Hall, 17, of DeKalb, said the combination of singing, dance and
acting has helped him with his entertainment ambitions.
"It's a very good start for anyone who's into the performing arts," Tamez-Hall said. "It makes you a triple-threat." Principal
Morris Mallory said the show was positive for his students, too. "I think this is a good message for the kids," Mallory said.
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