News

July 8, 2008

W-B will be hopping on Mondays this month

WILKES-BARRE – Mondays this month are going to be a little funkier on Public Square, and if the party proves popular, it might spread to other days.

Dubbing them “Funday Mondays,” Arts YOUniverse is sponsoring free hip-hop dancing lessons throughout July.

Taught by Raph Cooper, a Kingston resident who founded Dance Entertainment Company, the classes are meant to increase the downtown’s appeal by providing activities that attract people, said Kathleen Godwin, the executive director of Arts YOUniverse, an arts incubator in Wilkes-Barre.

“I like to say it gives a new meaning to square dancing,” she said.

“We’re going to see if we can get enough people out on Mondays. … And if it’s popular, we’ll do something on Tuesday nights.”

It was a hit for Wilkes-Barre resident Destinee Gavrish, 10, whose grandmother, Gerri Gavrish, suggested it.

Destinee used to take dance classes with several cousins but was displeased with the competition it engendered, Gerri said. This gave her an opportunity to enjoy what she likes to do without the drama.

For 7-year-old Mya Medley, also from Wilkes-Barre, the class was in addition to the weekly ballet and tap-dancing lessons she’s been taking through Arts YOUniverse for three years, said her grandmother Jill Smith.

Medley said she liked to “go fast,” particularly enjoying the spins and hand movements.

Though somewhat sparsely attended – a few preteen girls and one teenaged boy – the class attracted a crowd of onlookers, including a small contingent of skateboarders.

It was more than Cooper expected for the first day, and a positive development. “I expected it to rain,” he said.

“Today we started with two kids. … We’re getting a crowd at least, people watching.”

Cooper was glad to help out Godwin however possible because she lets him use her facility to teach everything from ballet to jazz to ballroom dancing.

“I like to call (myself her) minuteman because whenever she needs me, I live right across the river,” he said.

But Lawrence Socci III, who pitched the idea as a way to make connections for his event-promoting business Palace Ent., has big plans for the classes.

“By the 28th, I want to have enough people participating that we can have a talent show,” he said.

“We’re

going to see if we can get enough people out on Mondays. … And if it’s popular, we’ll do something on Tuesday nights.”

Kathleen Godwin

Executive director of Arts YOUniverse

Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

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