A Dynamic Dozen summer
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For a teenager who loves to dance and loves to teach dance, working with The Dynamic Dozen might have been 'the best summer job ever.'
"I think it is," nodded Tillsonburg's Rebecca Moore, who spent the last six weeks on Northeast London's Dynamic Dozen team.
"If you love to dance and if you love kids, this job is perfect for you. Sure it's kind of like a hip hop team but later on, after a month or so, you learn new moves like contemporary, or hip hop/jazz, or tap... it's amazing. I know lots of people who would love this. Even if they don't dance, they can still go and break dance because a lot of people can break dance here."
A Grade 10 student at Glendale High School this fall, Moore already knows what she will be telling friends (those without Facebook) who ask, 'what'd you do this summer?'
"I danced, I made new friends, experienced new things, travelled, and I met a new family."
DYNAMIC SUMMER
Moore found out about the Dynamic Dozen through Youth Opportunities Unlimited which, among other services, provides an online job search for teens in the London-Middlesex area.
"My mom was surfing the Internet for summer jobs in hip hop and Dynamic Dozen came up. We saw some videos and I decided to try out because if there's a chance to dance while doing the job, that's probably the best kind of dancing.
"This is my first summer job where I actually get paid," she noted, not counting last summer's babysitting. "It's a good amount of money to make."
Team member auditions for 15-18 year olds consisted of learning and performing choreography, an interview and prepared solo (60-90 seconds).
"My tryouts were good – and bad – because when I went on stage, the lighting was really bright and I couldn't remember the last time I was on stage. My music stopped and my eyes went big, but I still continued. That's what you do when the music's off, you keep dancing. It was good because everyone was clapping to a really good beat, so it was like a team effort. And it was really cool because I had some moves they didn't know which was really good."
Only 36 dancers would be chosen for the 2014 Dynamic Dozen, divided into three teams – Northeast, Northwest and South.
"Watching the auditions from other seasons, I thought I had a good chance. London has really good talent, but it's good to put in new talent that you've never seen before. So I made it, and it was a really good day because I got accepted on my mom's birthday."
She had celebrated her own 15th birthday a couple weeks earlier, making her the youngest member of the Dynamic crew.
"I'm going to be sad when Dynamic Dozen is done because we all literally became a whole family, even with the other teams. They're all funny, they're perfect. I really felt like I was welcome. Right when I walked in, when we all combined, everyone was giving out hugs. It was so nice. They didn't treat me like a little kid, they treated me just like the rest."
Each of the teams had a pair of older choreographers/mentors. Older, but not 'old.'
"They were in their 20s and they're all like really professional."
Her first full day on the 'Dancing Dozen 5.0' job, July 7, was soon followed by a July 11 kickoff at Covent Garden Market. Other major events included the Old East English Village Block Party, Pride Parade and Ribfest. The season wrapped up with 'Five Years and Counting,' a day of alumni flash mobbing around London.
"My favourite was when we were all combined – the flash mobs. The one flash mob we did at a splash pad. We were dancing in sprinklers with all the little kids, jumping through it. Having fun with the kids is the best part about the job. And making new friends. Also new dances. I think everything about it was fun."
Her summer days were also filled doing workshops at children's camps.
"We go to a camp in London, we teach them a dance, play some games. And we cypher, or freestyle, which means we make a big circle and whoever wants to show off their moves, they go in the circle. That's a lot of fun because little kids – they're crazy, they'll do anything."
Not only did she teach kids hip hop, she also learned some new moves.
"I learned a lot moves from little kids and I was surprised how I could actually do that. I did some moves that I never thought I could do. I love teaching and I also love learning, too. So it was like a win-win."
When she volunteers at Danscene, her Tillsonburg dance studio, Moore works with the same children all year. Working at summer youth camps scattered across London was a different experience, she said, but in some ways similar.
"All these little kids go to all the camps. You look at their faces and it's like 'ok I remember you and I remember you...' which is good. And they remember you, too. I think little kids remember everyone. There was one little girl, a competitive dancer, who ran up and gave me a hug. I gave her a bracelet I had made. She was like five and oh she was adorable."
At London's Rib Fest, the three combined Dynamic Dozen teams performed two flash mobs. Each team also danced its own special choreography, and concluded with a cypher. Moore, cheering on her Dynamic friends, missed out on the freestyling.
"I was going to go! I was going to do a calypso into a kick, then turn into the splits, then over on my belly and do a chest roll up. Everyone is disgusted with my acrobatics and flexibility," she laughed.
REMEMBER THE NAME
When she wasn't working with Dynamic Dozen, Moore was able to get in some travelling.
"My old Danscene hip hop teacher, Janice Van Dyk, she wants to help get my name out there," said Moore, who spent a weekend touring studios in Toronto with her parents and Van Dyk meeting choreographers, including Rightfoot Dance Studio/NOZO Toronto's David Forteau, who has choreographed some big-name celebrities.
"He (Forteau) wants to do a contemporary hip hop, and now he has my number. So I'm really excited for that."
They also visited The Underground Dance Centre, a mix of hip hop and jazz funk, where she recognized backup dancers who worked with Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson.
"If you want to continue on with dance – and I really do, I never want to stop – you have to put your face out there. They're not going to come to us, we have to go to them. It doesn't matter how much you don't want to, because you're tired from everything else, you just have to get your face out there. Because they will remember you. And if they want something, they will find you and get you."
She also visited O.N.E. Hip Hop Dance Studio in London, which turned out to be an 'interesting' experience.
"It was all break dancing – everybody did break dancing. When we did freestyle, I couldn't dance to the beat. There there some pauses, some remix, and I couldn't really do anything my body or my freestyle. I just wanted to go home.
"Then there was a battle and I wanted to stay and watch that. Then I got put on the spot... and I didn't even put my name in. They called my name last and my face just dropped. I was so nervous."
Unprepared, she didn't back down from the battle.
"I just thought, 'ok, let's just see if they like what I got.' I thought I did bad, but after watching the video, I thought it actually looked good. So it was a good first experience at O.N.E. I do want to go back... and I don't. I don't know if I can fit it into my schedule."
Her schedule starts with Danscene in Tillsonburg, where she grew up dancing.
"I'm going to continue at Danscene because it's my family," she nodded, looking forward to ballet, jazz, lyrical, tap, and musical theatre.
And this year, when it's time to choreograph hip hop, she will be able to contribute her own moves.
"I could probably make my own (hip hop) choreography, especially with all the other stuff we did in London. It was cool because I got to watch other moves, and right when I got home I would practice them to see how they'd work. My choreographer, Ken, is teaching me break dancing, so I can put some of that in. It'll add more points."
Like many athletes, time management is all-important. During her dance season she gets home around 3 p.m. and often leaves for the studio around 4:30. If she's early, sometimes she can get Danscene's second room to herself for a little extra practice.
"So basically when I get home from school I don't have a lot of time. It's time management. You go home, have a good snack and do your homework, or bring your homework to dance. When I get all my dance hours, I'm going to apply to work at Coffee Culture... because I like making smoothies. Yes, I like making them AND drinking them," she added.
There were both positives and negatives to dancing through the summer instead of hanging out with friends or going to the beach. In addition to making new friends, making money, dancing, and teaching dance, she was able to keep flexibility in her legs and back. All good things. But the downside, for a 15-year-old, was not being able to do what many other teens are doing.
"Sometimes I get sick and tired of going to places all the time because I just want to go out with friends. Or lay in my bed, watch Glee, and eat. Sometimes I want to do that, but other times I just want to dance. Because I dance my feelings out. Like today – I was kind of sad because I'm tired, I'm in pain, I'm going through stuff, but right when we put on some contemporary music or hip hop, I feel so much better. Especially when your teammates are there for you. They cheer you up."
DYNAMIC DOZEN
Dynamic Dozen, in its fifth season, provides 15-18 year old teens in London/Middlesex with summer jobs at adult minimum wage (typically 30-35 hours/week, $11/hour).
"In 2010, I was working for Youth Opportunities Unlimited, and myself and a couple other partners (London Intercommunity Health Centre and the City of London) developed a project where young people would be employed to engage with their community," said Danielle Carr, currently LIHC Project Coordinator. "This was sort of at the height of the flash mob time."
The Summer Jobs for Youth (SJFY) Program, available through the Ministry of Child and Youth Services, provides 100 per cent wage subsidy to employers to employ youth ages 15-18.
"The youth are recruited by Youth Opportunities Unlimited... and we managed to leverage that funding to support this project in 2010. So we started off with one group and LIHC hosted them as their employers. And we've grown. Now we have three different groups and three different agencies hosting them. Youth Opportunities Unlimited, by way of the Summer Jobs for Youth Program, still funds all the youth wages, and we receive funding from In Motion, through the City of London, and each of the host organizations – LIHC, Northwest London Resource Centre and Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre. We also access some different summer funding, provincial and federal, for some of our choreographers and our peer leaders.
"It's a whole bunch of people, which is why we've been able to do it for so long."
The future of the Dynamic Dozen program hinges on funding. While youth employment funding seems long term, funding for their operational, administrative and leadership requirements is year to year.
"It gets harder every year in terms of sustainability," said Carr. "We're looking for something that's a little more sustainable. So we are doing some research now about bigger, and perhaps more corporate, sponsorship. We are actively trying to find a way to keep this going."