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The sound of a gunshot and the thud of a teenager dropping in mock death to the floor of a stage at Grant School in Chicago made 12-year-old Ramone Davis remember times he has seen people shot for real.
"We was waiting for the bus when a man got shot in the playground," said Ramone, a 6th grader at Grant. "It was a Buick that drove by and shot him and we was like, `C'mon, hurry up, bus.' "
Ramone sought safety on the bus from the violence of the neighborhood near the Rockwell Gardens housing development where he lives and goes to school.
So he was a discerning critic when the MWAH! performing arts troupe--made up of teenagers from DuPage County and other western suburbs--visited his school to perform skits and songs about drugs, gangs, guns, race relations, domestic abuse and teen suicide.
"I like the way they acted things out. It was pretty realistic," said Ramone.
The troupe--whose name stands for "Messages Which Are Hopeful"--was founded in 1993 by Ray Moffitt, an Elmhurst resident and social worker for DuPage County. Many of its performers have faced violence too.
"I've always been looking for creative ways to reach young people," Moffitt said, "especially those who are having troubles, who are at-risk. Part of our present troupe have had real problems in the past with drugs and gangs and all that."
One of those is Russell Hanes, 19, of Downers Grove, who has turned his life around through membership in MWAH! and through participation in his church choir in Lisle. In a skit performed for the 6th, 7th and 8th graders at Grant, Hanes pretended to shoot another teen who refused to join a gang. But in real life, violence is a path he has turned away from since becoming involved in MWAH!
"Before I wouldn't have taken the peaceful route," he said. "I probably would have fought with them (gang members). But now, I take the peaceful route. The group has forced me to look at choices. We're accountable for how we are."
Hanes said becoming responsible for his actions has not been easy. Before moving to Downers Grove he spent 10 months in a juvenile facility in California.
"I use a lot of my personal experiences" in the skits, he said. "I have past experience with family problems," including drug abuse, he said.
Before coming to DuPage County, Moffitt was a social worker for the Maywood Police Department from 1975 to 1987.
He grew up on a farm near the Quad Cities area, and studied and worked Downstate until moving to Maywood. In that west Cook County village he founded an Explorer Scout post that evolved into his first dance troupe, The Explosonic Rockers Street Jazz Theatrical Group.
It began with a Christmas program that the Explorers did at a nursing home.
"I discovered from that program that some of these young people were extremely talented in the performing arts," Moffitt said. "They were really interested in singing, dance and even drama."
Moffitt said young audiences are able to relate to the ages and trying life experiences of many of the MWAH! performers. The eight troupe members, with diverse cultural, racial and economic backgrounds, range in age from 12 to 19.
"It just wouldn't work as well if you had college kids performing," or if they were all middle class, Moffitt said. "It's critical that they (the audience) be able to say, `They're the same age, they're the same grade and they're having the same problems.' "
Moffitt said he tries to follow each performance with a discussion between the troupe and audience.
"The performances catch peoples' attention," he said. But the audience's discussion, once they start to think about how to deal with the problems they see depicted on stage, "is just as important as any message from the performers."
Mike Rountree, 18, is a former gang member and senior at Hinsdale South High School. He said the troupe tries to show other teens positive ways to turn around their lives rather than looking down upon those who may have made bad choices.
"We're not always saying, `You shouldn't do this or that,' " he said. "To be a positive person, you don't have to say `No' about everything, just about the big things--like gangs and drugs."
The record speaks well for the futures of Moffitt's performers. Some of his former Explorer Scouts in the group have gone on to become actors, musicians, police officers and college students.
Freddy Rodriguez, a former Chicago resident, is now an actor living in Hollywood. He is in the movie "The Pest," which is to be released this month, and he played Anthony Quinn's grandson in the film, "A Walk in the Clouds."
He said his participation in Moffitt's Explosonic troupe helped him through a difficult time in his life.
"The group was positive," he said. "It gave off positive messages when I was living in a neighborhood that wasn't too good."
Twelve-year-old Kalii Palmer of Addison, a member of MWAH!, said she likes being part of a group that helps other teens.
"I really like the message of the group. If we help just one person, then we've made our goal," she said.
And it may have helped Ramone Davis, who said the MWAH! performance at Grant Academy made him think about ways to deal with violence.
"Just walk away," he suggested. "Don't say anything, just turn around and walk and stay away from people who're crazy." |