Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet celebrates Juneteenth and Black Cultural Experience

For close to three decades, founding artistic director Jamel Gaines has nurtured and showcased young professional dancers, musicians, and other artists through the Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet (JGCO), a nonprofit cultural institution dedicated to creating transformative choreography that blends modern, ethnic, and classical techniques rooted in social justice and the Black cultural experience and imbued with a soulful African American spirit. He recently took time out from preparing for a big Juneteenth celebration to provide a tour of JGCO’s home on a quiet tree-lined street in the Fort Green section of Brooklyn.

“This is the JGCO’s Cultural Arts Program’s Saturday Academy that runs from the first week in September to the third week in June and it’s located in Junior High School 113 (officially known as the Ronald Edmonds Learning Center),” Gaines said. “We’ve been here for 21 years. Here, our kids learn how to work together in a cooperative way through a program that features everything from African dance to modern, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, and drumming.”

In a few weeks, the organization will highlight the kids’ accomplishments with two key programs: a recital on Sunday, June 21, at 2 p.m. in the Theater for New Audience in downtown Brooklyn (262 Ashland Place between Lafayette and Fulton Street), and its annual Juneteenth Commemoration on June 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the same theater. “It’s a family event.”

The evening is in partnership with the African Burial Ground National Monument and welcomes Emmy Award-winning News Anchor @NY1 Cheryl Wills.

Just inside the entrance to Junior High School 113, a group of busy staffers was stationed at a couple of long tables, surrounded by the fruits of their labor: dozens of adorable, colorful vinyl backpacks filled with costumes and other paraphernalia the kids will need for their upcoming performances. Each of the more than 100 children performing will receive a backpack with their name on it. “It’s included in their affordable, low tuition,” Gaines said, noting that the JGCO academy’s tuition covers the dance classes in African, modern, jazz, and ballet, as well as theater and music taught by trained professionals at the school from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. from the first week in September until the third week in June of the following year.

“I’m juggling a few things today,” Gaines said, zipping through the hallway from one room to another, multi-tasking — checking on classes, coordinating staff duties, and supervising rehearsals.

Every nook and cranny of the school’s ground floor seemed to contain a Creative Outlet-related activity. In the auditorium, a hip-hop class attended by some 25 enthusiastic youngsters dancing their hearts out on the stage is winding down. A fun fact from Gaines was that he discovered the young man teaching the class performing in a NYC subway station.

Turning his attention to the dozens of kids flooding the stage to rehearse one of the dances they’ll be performing on the upcoming Juneteenth program, Gaines took charge. Exuding energy and enthusiasm, the youngsters, arranged in three groups — early elementary, preteens, and teens — went through their paces, prancing and moving in clean, orderly fashion with Gaines only needing to call out one or two who seem to be dancing to their own tune.

The youngest performed what are essentially basic steps with an impressive amount of confidence. A young boy launched into gravity-defying somersaults. A group of older teens executed technically demanding combinations with ease and confidence.

Standing at the foot of the stage, Gaines watched closely, only stopping the music once to make corrections and adjustments before leaving the rehearsal in the hands of another staffer as he rushed off to check in on another rehearsal.

In a mirrored studio, a group of young professional artists whose command of a mix of ballet and modern dance techniques indicates years of training and experience were rehearsing under the watchful eye of former Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Theara Ward, now a JGCO featured artist, mentor, and rehearsal director. Ward is one of an impressive roster of folks in leadership positions at JGCO that includes Juilliard-trained educator and lead rehearsal director Shirley Black-Brown-Coward and JGCO founding member, actress, and former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) member Bahiyah Sayyed, among others.

Beaming with a kind of paternal pride, Gaines whispered that one of the dancers in the studio is Ryan Rankine, whose technical precision and sure-footed timing is charismatic. Rankine, who has performed on Broadway in “Fela,” “The Lion King,” and other shows, is a product of the JGCO school. The laser-sharp focus and technical precision of several young female dancers made them stand out. Two — one Black and one white — are French, underscoring the JGCO’s diversity. He noted that another is a student at Purchase, and yet another is an undergrad at Marymount, while another just graduated from Queens College.

Gaines said proudly, “Four of my dancers aren’t here today because they’re auditioning for the Martha Graham Dance Company right now,” underscoring JGCO’s mission to serve as both a launchpad and home base for talented young professionals. “We’re a collective,” Gaines said, “so our artists can go and do a project on Broadway, at the Oscars, or City Center, or with a singer, and come back when that’s done.”

A few days later, Gaines boasted that Darion Turner, one of the dancers who auditioned for the Graham Company, just got a contract with them.

Gaines said that while not everyone wants or is destined to become a professional dancer, the training they receive at JGCO is enriching. “Every kid is important to us,” he said.

Community-based schools like JGCO have often served a variety of purposes, from providing a place for kids to tap into the sheer joy of exploring creative activity to developing character-building discipline that enables them to accomplish their dreams, or igniting that spark and fanning those flames that make their wildest dreams come true. That’s what Gaines said happened to him when, as a youngster in Queens, he was smitten by the arts while a student of arts and education under the direction of Diane and Adrienne Brown at PS 123.

In high school, Gaines started studying at the now-defunct Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center. Johnson’s students included Ben Vereen; Chuck Davis, the late beloved founder of DanceAfrica; Michael Peters, a former Alvin Ailey dancer who choreographed some of Michael Jackson’s most iconic music videos; and choreographer Kevin Jeff, whose company Gaines performed with before launching JGCO to fill a void. Gaines said such community schools that instill a sense of self-awareness and pride that can make anything possible.

A key part of JGCO’s mission is to “use the artistic expression of dance and other integrated art forms to uplift communities through education, performance, and cultural programming.” Since it started three decades ago with 10–15 folks, Creative Outlet has grown to a cultural arts program with five divisions that reach thousands of students. It is affiliated with the New York City Board of Education with programs that affect thousands of students in some 60 schools throughout the city. Its dedication to the community has been embraced by what has been described as a strong sense of “camaraderie and community,” and rewarded by support from funders such as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, Schubert Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, City Councilmember Chrystal Hudson, and Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries.

“I’m committed to doing quality work, particularly for communities of color, and bringing professional and cultural arts information and empowerment to the community, [and] not to just stay on the community level but to empower people of color worldwide,” Gaines said. JGCO has showcased its artistry internationally, from the U.S.to Spain, Germany, London, and Africa. The company recently traveled to Ghana and Nigeria, and this year performs in South Africa and France because, as Gaines said, “Our work reflects the shared struggles and disparities across the human experience, reaffirming our commitment to fostering empathy, awareness, and unity through the power of art.”

Visit creativeoutlet.org for more info.

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