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February 18, 2009

Bringing art to the people

By Rachel Brown



“Five, six, seven, eight. Walk, two, three, clap. Now on eight, everybody feet apart, OK?”

Vince Gully turns on the music for the real drill. Two dozen or so elementary school students follow his steps, their faces just as serious as his.

Yet, during a break from the hip hop dance class at the Boys and Girls Club on Underwood Street, 9-year-old Cory Strickland giggles and demonstrates his favorite moves.

“I get to moooove,” he says, twisting his torso and moving his arms around.

Cody is a bundle of energy, as is his brother, Antar, 8. They attend City Park Elementary School, but after school they come to the Boys and Girls Club. The club is a nonprofit organization that offers enrichment, education, leadership and other kinds of classes after school, during school breaks and during the summer. Parents pay a weekly fee for activities, but the organization also provides scholarships for those who need financial help.

Gully is teaching weekly, 45-minute classes to about 20 elementary school students and about 20 teens for six weeks. The Dalton Arts Project pays his salary.

Gully has performed locally in “The Nutcracker” and teaches at various dance schools around Georgia. Working with the Boys and Girls Club differs somewhat from his other assignments, he said.

“The opportunity to work with underprivileged or less fortunate kids who are here and want to do it because they love to dance (is what sets this apart),” he said. “When you can’t have something, and then you’re afforded the opportunity to do it, you seem a little more grateful.”

Robbie Slocumb, chief professional officer for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Gordon, Murray and Whitfield Counties, said the hip hop classes tie into the club’s mission “to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”

“(Gully’s) demeanor commands respect and the kids respond to him so well,” Slocumb said. “He relates to them. He knows what he’s doing, but he’s down to their level.”

Berrien Long, artistic director for the Dalton Arts Project, said the project’s mission involves taking art to people so they can experience it.

Raylin Macon, 10, attends Blue Ridge Elementary School. She said she signed up for a dance class at the club over the summer and decided she liked it enough to sign up for this one.

“I like to dance,” she said.

Hakeem Macon, 14, said he already danced hip hop.

“I just figured I’d see if I could learn something new from it,” he said.

One of his friends, Luis Vazquez, 13, said he comes to the club every day. One of his favorite moves involves waving his arms, he said.

Gully said he began dancing when he was 13.

“Before hip hop was called hip hop, it used to be called funk or street dancing,” he said.

When he was 17, he attended Jones Junior College in Mississippi and used his free time to teach his friends the hip hop moves he had learned. His passion for teaching grew from there.

A self-described “artsy” individual of parents who were school teachers, the Marietta resident said he toured with local and regional bands and artists after finishing college. Now, he splits his time between Powerhouse Dance in Kennesaw, Studio Dance Inc. in Dallas, Ballet North in Paulding County and the Dalton Arts Project.

“Eventually I would like to go to film school and direct,” he said.

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