Heart leads the way for both mentor and student

ST. MARTINVILLE — Walking through the halls at Highland Baptist Christian School, St. Martinville native Delana Johnson, 12, looks like any other student. Veering around the preschoolers as they draw on the sidewalk is an act of respect that exemplifies the sensitivity to others Delana has learned as a student of dance.

At 8 years old, Delana accompanied her mother to a homeless shelter to deliver some items. She looked around and saw many children and said to her mother, “the kids aren’t doing anything. How about I start Dance for Hope to give kids hope.” In the beginning, Wanda Johnson thought it was an off the cuff comment, but persistence by Delana brought results.

“I started (Dance for Hope) because I wanted to give back to children who really didn’t have anything to do in the community,” Delana said. “At the homeless shelter, I saw children that needed help. I want to give to them hope to achieve their goals in life and become confident. I want give to them what God gave to me, the joy of dance.”

To begin, Johnson contacted the shelters around Acadiana and found a connection in Lafayette. She went to the shelters and then moved to the Boys and Girls Club. The first summer they went from location to location and she was teaching with great response from the students and their parents.

“For me as a mother, it gave her something to do, and she liked doing it,” Wanda Johnson said. “It’s not hurting or killing us, so why not? The kids look at her and see what she is accomplishing at her age and begin to believe that whatever they want to do, they can accomplish it too. It gives them hope.”

Becoming a Teacher

The dance classes are provided free of charge to the students as her way of “giving back,” Delana said. With success at the shelters, Dance for Hope soon moved to J.W. Faulk Elementary School regularly.

“Some of our students have been a part of her classes for four years,” Johnson said. “Parents like it for all kinds of reasons. They do it because they can’t afford lessons, others want their child to experience giving back or for losing weight. One lady wanted her daughter to have extra classes even though she was taking them from another school.”

From the beginning Delana asked advice of her dance teacher in St. Martinville, Arranette Bobb of A5 Academy of the Arts. Bobb had been Delana’s teacher since she was 4 years old. Bobb is a graduate of the dance program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and all of the teachers at the academy have dance degrees.

“My No. 1 rule is respect yourself, then you can respect other things and people,” Bobb said. “I wanted to see how Delana would teach my choreography. I asked her if she wanted some of her girls to be in the A5 Academy recital and she said yes.”

Bobb said she has great respect for the work Delana is doing with younger children and even some older.

“Delana is a very intelligent and bright young lady with parents to support her,” Bobb said.

Becoming the Mentor

Bobb, the mentor, and her student agreed the experience of being in a recital would be exciting for Delana’s students. The Johnsons already garnered support from local businesses and other dancers to donate leotards and even tap shoes for the students. With the addition of costumes, makeup and being part of a larger group, they all hoped for the best.

The result was pride and tears from Bobb as she watched the final performance of a modern Gospel piece that combined both her students and Delana’s. As parents took pictures, obvious joy and accomplishment shone on their faces, Bobb said. She sat in the back with tears flowing as she watched what Delana had accomplished at 10 years old, she said.

“Delana gave the girls a beautiful experience,” Bobb said. “The mission at A5 Academy is to enable each student to convey their feelings, both technical and innovative, building a home of dance where they learn to respect the technics of dance, their body and each other.”

Bobb said she teaches her students what it is to have a safe, positive and motivating environment for dance and to make lifetime friends. The commitment Delana made with her students was a reflection of those same principles. That is what Bobb said she saw the night of the performance.

“I teach dance from the heart,” Bobb said, “The technical excellence is geared to promote and teach leadership to students that encourages them to carry themselves well.”

In 2012, the facility was large enough to combine the groups, Bobb said. She hopes to do the same thing another year but in 2015 and 2016, the venue she chose for A5 is not large enough to add more students. After 15 years of teaching dance in St. Martinville, as part of her support for the community Bobb combines her passion and vocation for a worthy cause.

“My No. 1 love is for dance but my background is in health promotion,” Bobb said. “Some of the students have sickle cell disease. With empathy and sympathy for people with sickle cell, we started a sickle cell walk. It’s all about building self esteem and awareness of the disease.”

Last year Bobb said they were able to raise money for the national sickle cell organization as well as a local support group.

Expanding Reach

After Delana’s success the first years working with the shelters, the Lafayette Consolidated Government’s Domingue Recreation Center contacted her and established a twice monthly time for classes on Friday night.

“They contacted us and said they had a dance room in the facility and wanted the opportunity for the children of the community,” Johnson said. “They said, ‘can your daughter come to teach them?’ ”

In February, Delana began teaching Teche Area children at Cyr-Gates Community Center every other Saturday. Boys and girls are part of her classes. The group is learning all types of dance skills including tap, ballet, praise dance, jazz, African, modern and hip-hop. Delana also includes some of her peers from A5 Academy, Melanna Sam, Stephanie Cormier and Chloe Polk, to assist her in the work with specific styles including hip-hop with Tyler Wilson’s assistance.

Praise dance is a big focus for her personal dance style as well as teaching, Delana said. She performs at weddings, funerals and is scheduled to perform at an upcoming women’s conference at Notre Dame Church in St. Martinville. One of the reasons Bobb started her academy was because the priest at Notre Dame Catholic Church in St. Martinville wanted liturgical dance as part of their special services at Christmas and Easter, Bobb said.

Delana’s assistant — her mother — has helped to coordinate performances for the students at nursing homes, church groups and civic opportunities including Little Lamb Mission Outreach for children of the incarcerated.

The Johnsons have established a Dance for Hope nonprofit organization to help support their daughter’s efforts by allowing charitable donations of goods and monetary contributions.

Anyone interested in enrolling their children from age 5 and up can do so at any time by contacting the facility. In New Iberia applications are at Cyr-Gates Community Center, where classes are held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. every other Saturday morning.