east Aurora, Illinois

Hip-hop helps students dance their way to good choices
The Beacon News

Kelly Kuder

Several hundred sixth-graders dressed in uniforms of blue pants and white shirts stream into East Aurora's Simmons Middle School's brand new gymnasium for a D.A.R.E. assembly.

They see a tall black man in a red bandanna topped by a black ball cap. They see a group of dancers in their hip hop uniforms of baggy black pants and shirts. The youthful chatter grows more animated. Some of the kids have heard of Suave' and Hip Hop ConnXion, and they know the group is good enough to pretty much rip up that new floor. What they don't know is that in a matter of minutes, some of them will be dancing right alongside them.

Kelly Kuder has flown in from Philadelphia to take in the show. She is a regional manager for the national D.A.R.E. Dance program.

"We do our research," she said. "We recruit dance companies in major cities and provide funding for them to put on assemblies in their communities," she said. "They bring the message of using dance as an alternative to gangs and drugs."

Another area company involved in D.A.R.E. Dance is Chicago's Hubbard Street 2.

It is not the last time Suave', founder and director of Hip Hop ConnXion, will visit the school. In January, he will begin a 15-week program at Simmons with 25 sixth-graders who will get free weekly dance lessons that will culminate in a performance. And at the end of the school year, almost all the Simmons students Suave' teaches will receive scholarships so they can continue studying dance with him, Kuder said.

As Suave' raises the microphone to his lips, the gym goes quiet. Speaking in his native British accent with just a tinge of urban "flava" for good measure, he tells the students that their days begin each morning with a choice.

"When you wake up in the morning, you've got a choice if you want to be mad and upset the whole day, or be happy the whole day. I choose to be happy and smile all day. Life is all about choices. It's up to you what you want to do."

He smiles the sly smile of a youngster with a secret and motions to the dancers behind him.

"These guys, they made a choice that was gonna help them stay out of trouble. It was their choice. I gave them the tools. I taught them how to dance. But it was their choice."

Kelly Kuder is impressed. Suave' is speaking the sixth-graders' language. "We were drawn to Suave' because kids do love him," she said, adding that it doesn't hurt that Hip Hop ConnXion already has a philosophy that meshes with the D.A.R.E. mission.

Hip Hop ConnXion's mission statement is: "The survival of dance rests on the shoulders of our youth. Teach them well and our future will be strong. You can choose to start educating tomorrow, or you can choose to start educating now. We choose to start now!"

Suave', of London, used to play soccer in his native England. An injury brought him to the states for rehabilitation in 1993.

"In England," he notes, "when you're injured, so many people are ready to take your job... Soccer was always my first love. Back in England, I didn't know dance studios existed. I never took a class."

He got involved in the entertainment business and the rest is history. "I was lucky to be good with people," he says. Put that luck together with his talented feet, and he had a recipe for hip-hop success.

He purchased a dance studio in Wheeling, and Hip Hop ConnXion was born in 1999. When the 2006 incarnation of Hip Hop ConnXion hits the Simmons Middle School gym floor, each dancer possesses the determination of a prize-fighter, the dexterity of a ballet dancer and the bendability of a pretzel. The sixth graders go wild. The teachers go wild. And everyone gets a little crazy when about 30 students (and a few teachers) take the floor to learn a few steps.

Hip Hop ConnXion performs several pieces for the students, raising the bar a bit each time. Even after the kids are dismissed, they prefer to stick around, scurrying from dancer to dancer asking for autographs.

Suave' shakes his head and tells the kids it's time to go back to class. No more autographs. But for 25 of them, Suave' will not be a stranger.

He has vowed to give students the tools to make good choices. And he is bound and determined that when he's through with them, they will have a box full of tools to help them be successful.

"I mold dancers after how I live life," he said. "This is more than just dance. This is life. Dance is the catalyst."

Suave' teaches hip-hop classes through the Fox Valley Park District. Classes are open for registration, but space is limited. Call (630) 851-8990 for information. His dance troupes, which rehearse at Eola Community Center, include a sister troupe to Hip Hop ConnXion called Hip Hop Force, and a junior troupe, Future Force, for those under 14.

Click here for more on Hip Hop ConnXion

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