BAY SHORE, New York -- Acting out different scenarios, crafting your costume, and dancing to the beat is what "Project Move" is all about.
Oya Bangura, Nuala DeGeorge, and Stephanie Pitocco took each of their skill sets and made an immersive arts-in-education program.
"We thought up Project Move to service the community," said Bangura. "We use theatre, we use dance, and we use costume design to build confidence. We have families dancing together, and we have families creating arts together."
The end goal is to have Project Move involved inside schools, but with complications from the pandemic, the program found a home in Bay Shore.
Related: Learn how to bust a move on wheels by learning the art of roller dance
The first part of the session begins with an acting session from Bangura. The second part is followed by a crafting session from DeGeorge.
The last part of the session includes learning new choreography while wearing a costume that the students made.
"I think when we all work together, we all have this energy that we bring to the room," said Pitocco. "Not only does it motivate the children, but their parents. They want to dance together, they want to create art together. We encourage them to take these skills that they learn in the room and bring them to the community outside."
All levels and ages are welcome to sign-up and try the different programs Project Move has to offer.
Related: Second-generation Korean Americans preserve Korea's fan dance in New Jersey
"There are things that we do now that I would have never found myself doing a year or two ago," said Camelle person, a participant. "It really is a movement."
"Move isn't just moving physically," said DeGeorge. "It's moving mentally, it's moving physically, it moves spiritually. "It'll do more for you than you think it's going to do. We move with magic, and that's what we want to spread."
----------
Contact Community Journalist Alex Ciccarone