Teenage troupe builds confidence, community
JNS Finest dance troupe is owning the stage at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts’ urban dance competition STOMP on a recent Sunday afternoon.
Eleven teenage girls alternate between graceful, undulating movements and fierce, frenetic steps. They’re pumped and powerful. Their stamps and claps reverberate through the auditorium. Two girls slide into splits and the audience explodes.
The annual dance competition, which attracted 38 teams on May 7, is what brought these girls to the stage.
But it is JNS — which stands for Jane and Sheppard — a neighbourhood dance program that is teaching this close-knit group of 13- to 15-year-olds to take chances, build confidence and lean on each other.
JNS Finest dance program is organized by Ephraim’s Place Community Centre, located inside the Church of the Nazarene on Sheppard Ave. W.
The centre was started by the church congregation and surrounding community to bring “constructive options which might help (young people) believe in something bigger,” Pastor Bill Sunberg says.
The centre was named after 11-year-old Ephraim Brown, a bystander killed in a gang fight that took place across the street from the church in 2007. Sunberg ministered to the grieving community.
Studies of the area had already determined that many local youth were pessimistic about the future.
“Dance helps them be confident and reach out for a future while looking out for each other.” MAXINE HART MOTHER OF JNS FINEST DANCER
“We were determined to make sure this would never happen again,” Sunberg says.
Two permanent staff and volunteers work with the area youth to boost morale, offering free mentoring, leadership skills and basketball programs.
Program funding is sporadic and JNS Finest is looking for sponsors (visit ephraimsplace.com and specify JNS Finest).
JNS Finest, named by its members, launched in 2014. The team proposes the songs, and dance instructors Kelly Gammie and Queenie Seguban, along with peer leader Tiauna Corbette, create the choreography.
They train twice a week and are highly committed, co-ordinator Jennifer Arango says.
And it’s more than a dance class. The program offers a safe and positive space, Arango says. Each class begins with a check-in where the girls can explore their stresses and problem-solve.
The girls have blossomed since they began dancing together, says dance instructor Gammie, who has been with the group for two years. They’ve become disciplined, committed and open to trying new moves.
Cherish Hart has applied what she learned in dance class to academics and says she has noted an improve- ment. “If I learn a move that’s really hard, and I go to school and there’s a tough question, I remember I learned the dance move, so I can get this math problem,” she says.
Her mom likes what she sees. “Dance helps them be confident and reach out for a future while looking out for each other,” Maxine Hart says.
Dancer Audlina Thompson is buoyed by her expertise on stage.
“If I can perform in front of many people, I can ace this job interview,” she says, adding, “When you have the people you love cheering you on, it brightens your mood and you work harder.”
Friendships are key to their success. “No one gets left in the dust — they pick each other up when they’re down,” Gammie says.
That camaraderie is evident at the end of the STOMP competition. JNS Finest doesn’t end up in the medals and some of the girls are disappointed.
But Corbette sees all that they have accomplished and stays positive.
“We killed it,” she says. “I’m so proud to see them grow.”