THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190078
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SARAH HUNTLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: NORFOLK
Despite the hazy heat, Shanita joined hands with organizers of the summer's first family festival hosted by Young Audiences of Virginia and hopped from foot to foot, throwing her sandaled toes into the air, Rockette-style. The music of Caribbean steel drums resonated behind her.
{REST} ``The band is nice, loud,'' she said, stopping long enough to steal a gulp of orange soda from her sister's cup. ``Everybody hears it and comes out.''
That was exactly the idea behind the free festival on the grounds of the Hunton YMCA on Charlotte Street, the first daylong party of a string to be hosted this summer at area housing projects and senior centers.
``We want all the kids in the neighborhood to hear the music and participate,'' said Betsy Johnson, the program director who coordinated the day's activities.
Funded by a grant from the Norfolk Arts and Humanities Commission, Young Audiences lined up the American Jazz Ensemble, the dancing duo of Carolynn and Scott Johnson, who performed a multiethnic colonial show, and Caribbean Pan Groove, an authentic steel pan orchestra from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
``It gives these kids a chance to be exposed to the arts that they don't usually get to see,'' said Eilene Rosenblum, executive director.
Rosenblum kicked off the day's festivities by driving through the neighborhood blaring the horn, her car covered with yellow and blue helium balloons.
``Like the Pied Piper, they just came out into the street, following the balloons,'' she said. About 35 kids showed up to the picnic and performances.
Vonda Yancey, 10, who liked the free balloons best, said the festival was a new experience.
``Don't that much stuff like this happen around here,'' she said. ``It's fun to share in it.''
And 9-year-old Maurio Hill said he'd never heard ``old-time music,'' referring to the saxophone and jazz players.
``I liked the music, the beat,'' he said.
Emily Reynolds, the president of the neighborhood association, sat under a tree behind the food tables.
``This is nice. It's something we have right in our community,'' she said. ``The kids don't have to go to the outside.''
After the dancing stopped, an active Shanita was off and running. She bounced over to the drummers, eager to explore the steel pans. She picked up a wooden drumstick and started banging away, her small, braided head almost swallowed by the mouth of the drum.
Shanita noticed a younger child standing beside her. ``Here, you try,'' she said, lifting the child up so she could reach the drums. As the little girl pounded her stick gleefully, Shanita became her teacher, pointing to the letters that designated notes and octaves.
``Go to A, go to A,'' she told her little pupil. ``You'll like it.'' by CNB