(Vibes of Style will present their “Hip Hop Circus” at 6:30 p.m. at Concord High School on Friday night. There will be a pre-show at 5:30 with a stilt walker and face painting. The crew, along with Rundlett Middle School dance club members, will exhibit many, many dance numbers, including a Prince tribute, and they promise a fun, exciting time that shows all the hard work they have been putting in all year. For moe information, check out the Facebook page.)
“You get famous where? In the basement!”
It’s a motto that will require some tweaking once the Vibes of Style dance studio moves from the bottom floor of instructor Shamecca Brown’s Perley Street home and into the Concord Community Arts Center this month, but it has been a rallying cry for the dance crew since its inception nine years ago. In that basement is also where you get support, advice, discipline, a second family, cultural exposure and learning – about dance and about life. And while they may be stretching their legs in their new space, the relatively cramped quarters have served as quite an incubator for an intimate, diverse group of kids, from age 3 to 17.
“We genuinely care about these kids,” Brown said. “You know, when you start a business, it’s about money, but we don’t see that. It’s about making them better men and women, and better dancers.”
Brown and her husband, Unisa “DJ Manolo” Bangura, have opened their home to their dancers and created an elaborate extended family in the process – which includes their own children, Sincere, 16; Sinaii, 6; and “Lil E,” 3. The crew spends about six to seven hours every Saturday in that basement, and there are a few members who seem to never go away, Bangura said. David Tumaini, 16, has been dancing with Vibes of Style since he was 5½ and “he’s always here” Bangura said jokingly. “Sometimes we think he leaves stuff here just so he can come back.”
Tumaini had this to say: “I love dancing, it’s a passion of mine. . . . And Unisa is the best DJ, and he’s really funny and goofy sometimes . . . but when it comes to dancing he’s very serious.”
Vibes of Style dancers take part in dance competitions, book gigs at weddings, birthdays and other events, and find community service projects to do, such as a recent tour of senior citizen homes in Massachusetts.
Bangura said the key for them is that this isn’t a place where the kids pop in for an hour and then say “See ya later.” “These kids know each other; they spend a lot of time together and get to know each other very well,” he said.
“This is our life,” Brown said. “It’s all we do: dance and music.”
“We’re not a big company,” Brown said. “We’re a family first.”
Brown, originally from Queens, N.Y., and with a dance background that stretches back to when she was 3, started this dance crew in 2007 when she first began teaching an after-school program at Rundlett Middle School. She said she realized that things weren’t really diverse; that there were a lot of races and nationalities, but everyone was staying separate. And diversity is very important to her.
Many of the dancers have found Vibes of Style through Brown’s work with the middle school and Abbot-Downing elementary – she even has a new recruit from NHTI, where she is coach of the dance team. (Brown’s various other roles include teaching at all of the Manchester middle schools through the 21C program, as well as an adult class at Core Fitness in Concord.)
Eight-year-old Chloe Darling joined when she was in first grade and saw Brown teaching a group of third-graders. Her mom, Jenny Grant, said Chloe jumped right in and has never stopped, and now Grant is fully involved, too. She makes all of the costumes and paints faces, and helps out any way she can. She couldn’t say enough about the generosity of Brown and Bangura.
“They open their home 24/7 to these kids. They are helping keep kids out of trouble,” Grant said.
Claufy Bongambe, 17, started dancing with Brown five years ago when he was a Rundlett student. He said the biggest thing for him has been the support and advice he gets from Brown and Bangura. He has a dream to become a choreographer and dancer, and he said they both push him to realize those goals.
“They come to my shows,” Bongambe said. “My first audition, I was nervous; they called me and gave me advice.”
“They are like counselors for these kids,” Grant added. “They dedicate so many hours. Truly.”
Kalyssa Ward-Hill, 14, of Hopkinton did not mince words when describing what the dance crew has meant to her.
She said that when she’s going through something or just needs to talk things out, she can send out a text and everyone is there for her.
“They are my mom and dad. Like, I don’t have a mom and dad, so they’re my mom and dad,” she said. “School is rough for me, there’s no diversity. When I’m here, I feel I belong somewhere. This is my home right here.”
Annaleise Hanright, 13, has been with Vibes since September and she said the draw for her is that it just isn’t like other dance companies.
“If there’s something wrong, they’ll notice and ask us, and if they can they will help us work it out,” she said.
For more information about Vibes of Style, check out their Facebook page at facebook.com/dancecrew
showstoppers.