Troupe uses dancing, singing to impact teens
La Salle NewsTribune
(La Salle, Illinois)
Friday, March 10, 2006By Kevin Caufield - NewsTribune Reporter
Nearly 600 high school and junior high school students packed the Illinois Valley Community College Cultural Center Thursday to watch a performance hitting issues close to their lives.
The untimely death of western Illinois teenager Ryan Murdock was just one focus in a performance by MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe. Murdock, a graduate of Rockridge High School in lower Rock Island County near the Quad Cities, died last May at the age of 19 in an alcohol-related crash during a visit home from his freshman classes at Southern Illinois University.
MWAH! is an acronym for Messages Which Are Hopeful, the exclamation point is for added affect. The troupe is affiliated with the Chicago Area Project, a grass-roots service and advocacy agency based in downtown Chicago and part of a statewide community services network targeting at-risk youth and their families.
Marcos Sanchez, 13, a student at Trinity Catholic Academy in La Salle described the performance as simply awesome.
“It’s a lot of fun and it helps,” he said.
Combining real life drama, high energy hip hop dance, and both original and cover songs, the eight-member troupe, primarily teenagers ranging in age from 10 to 23, focus on issues such as bullying, conflicts stemming from racial diversity, teen dating relationship problems, and finding what is hopeful and good in negative situations. The troupe artists live in the western suburbs of Aurora, Wheaton, and Naperville.
Hilary Sloan, 14, Trinity Catholic said she will walk away from the performance knowing how important it is for her to make good decisions.
“This is really cool and it gives a good message to teenagers,” she said.
Kevin Caufield can be reached at 223-3206 Ext. 132 or countyreporter@newstrib.com.
