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Amelia Alexander, Erica Pezzano and Joe Suppa did not mind that their guests left their props home Feb. 17.
The students at the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School, 2600 S. Broad St., simply enjoyed the chance to dance, which they executed with flawless precision. Their opportunity came courtesy of a visit from a trio of dancers from “STOMP,” the 20-year-old show featuring a troupe that relies on unconventional objects to establish thumping beats.
The one-hour body percussion session had the youngsters’ hands and feet duplicating rhythms from the troupe’s award-winning act, which concluded its six-day turn at the Merriam Theater Sunday. Alexander, a seventh grader, Pezzano and Suppa, both eighth graders, joined with roughly 60 schoolmates for the master class. In return, the elementary learners donated nine bins of food to assist their company’s STOMP Out Hunger campaign.
“Shows reach out to us regularly, and we do community service as a sign of our appreciation,” Angela Corosanite, the CEO and founder of the charter school said of welcoming “STOMP” for its third visit.
Beaming with as much pride as the students, Corosanite took in the class in the second floor’s ballet studio, one of seven studios in the 10-year-old institute. The eager learners, all in the sixth through eighth grades, joined the class courtesy of donating and accepting Corosanite’s invitation.
An expansive mirror highlighted the cavernous space, offering the thrilled throng occasions to see its active arms and legs absorbing the instruction from Donisha Brown, Andre Fernandez and Garrett Hanson.
“If you can say it, you can play it,” Brown, an 11-year veteran of the troupe, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary, said.
The show’s revelry typically involves bins, brooms, pans, plastic bottles, poles, pots and trash cans, but Brown and her fellow cavorters brought only thundering boots. Brown led the determined pupils, arranged in four rows, through a series of moves that involved alternating right and left steps and spirited clapping. Fernandez, a 14-year “STOMP” member, and Hanson, a three-year contributor, intensified the steps, provoking a mixture of fascinated and fierce faces.
Giving the inhabitants below a definite post-lunch wake-up, the intense young artists had their accurate appendages ready for each instruction. The tempo impressed the professionals, whose crisp executions spurred the students to be their competent counterparts. Each giddy participant welcomed the repetitions, especially Suppa.
“We were so intense, I though we might fall through the floor,” the resident of the 1000 block of Tree Street said after catching his breath.
Once he and the others had impressed the “STOMP” representatives thoroughly, they split into three sections for a partial championship dance-off. Shunning shyness, the excited talents gave their voices a chance to match their limbs, challenging one another to perform well. Their mission accomplished, they relished their adrenaline rushes and shared a brief question-and-answer period with the “STOMP” crew.
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The 613-student school opened in 2000, bringing to fruition Corosanite’s 30-year vision to revitalize a dwindled appreciation for the arts. Prominent shows, including “Cats,” “Evita,” “Scrooge” and “The Wizard of Oz,” have targeted the institute’s advocacy for artistic excellence, giving, according to Corosanite, 30 master classes over the decade.
“We feel the arts give these children a bigger world,” Corosanite, a graduate of South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St., said after the performance.
That expanded universe begins to take shape in kindergarten, as all students receive violins, honing their skills all the way through fifth grade. At the end of the fifth grade, every student chooses a major from the school’s pool of eight specialties: Ballet: creative writing; French; innovations in science; instrumental music; music theory; visual arts; and vocal music. Once they enter their chosen discipline, the students begin their days with 90 minutes of instruction in it, backing the time up with rehearsal time and after-school work.
Corosanite and Dr. Gail Avicolli, the school’s principal, are waiting to hear from the School District of Philadelphia about being able to duplicate their model with another school. Corosanite expects to hear news in April and noted that South Philadelphia is likely to serve as the setting for the additional space.
“The arts are the glue for our children,” the metaphorically-minded head said after escorting some participants to a van where they placed the bins, which contained cereal, crackers, pasta, pudding, soup and tea.
The next day, a school official transported the offerings to Philabundance, 3616 S. Galloway St., a 17-year-old advocate for the annihilation of hunger among Delaware Valley families. Having opportunities to assists others and to learn new moves from the “STOMP” triumvirate gave the students ample joy.
“The moves were fun and natural for me,” the spry Alexander, a ballet major from the 1100 block of Pierce Street who takes dance and gymnastics instruction at DanceAdelphia, 1100 Snyder Ave., said of this year’s first master class for the school.
“I enjoyed the time but it went too fast,” the student council member added with a grin.
Fellow ballet major Pezzano, who has seen the full “STOMP” production, routinely followed each element of the choreography, having gone in thinking the “STOMP” personnel would throw the youngsters into the mix with only minimal guidance.
“I was wrong, though,” the resident of Front and Shunk streets said. “I loved the step-by-step instructions. They gave us discipline and made everything really fun and cool.”
Every boy at the charter school must take ballet from kindergarten through fifth grade, so pounding the floor did not come as a shock to Suppa.
“I thought the experience was great,” the visual arts major said of letting his feet replace his hands as the media for his self-expression.
The students’ receptivity to interacting with the dancers and to finding a place in the arts encourages Corosanite.
“Learning has changed. We have to give three-dimensional education to our learners,” she said. “The district has asked me what our magic is. Our magic is combining the children with the arts.” SPR
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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