South Dallas Memorial Day Weekend Talent Show
Published by Christina DiChiara
On May 27th, in partnership with the Dallas Police Department and Police Activities League, we produced our first ever talent show in South Dallas on the lawn of the African American Museum at Fair Park. We were joined by 180 community members, including, 28 volunteers, 137 audience members, and 15 police officers. There were 21 performance acts.
For eight weeks leading up to the show, we walked through poor communities in South Dallas and invited everyone we met to join us for the talent show, whether as a volunteer, performer, or audience member. On the morning of May 27th, young people came to an audition where everyone made the show! Then, performers, volunteers, and police officers participated in a development workshop, where they played games to ease their anxiousness and then performed improvisational skits.
Several local news outlets covered the show. To see their coverage click HERE for Fox 4 New and HERE for CBS 11 News!
In the All Stars Talent Show Network (ASTSN), young people use the stage to express themselves in many different forms including dance, song, rap, poem, contemporary and more. One performer from the South Dallas show who did just that was Andy B. Andy is a contemporary artist from Canada who has been through some unfortunate circumstances. He struggled to make ends meet for his family and ended up homeless in McKinney until his mentor helped him find a platform in Dallas for him to express his pain. The song Andy chose to perform was dedicated to his, “Very best friend Jenny, who was addicted to drugs and died.” Andy said, “through her situation I learned a lesson on what being a man is.” The song is called, “I just want you to know”. See the full performance by clicking HERE!
Stay tuned for the next ASP of Dallas and PAL Partnership event. If you would like to participate, visit https://allstars.org/get-involved, or contact Dee Smith, Program and Outreach Coordinator, at 214-382-5892 or dsmith@allstars.org.