City Youth Now - Interview with Shannon Chain

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Shannon Chain grew up in San Francisco in a chaotic household with a severely schizophrenic mother. Her mother was so ill she was unable to provide the basic necessities of life like clothing, food, and shelter. They moved constantly, were sometimes homeless, and ate at soup kitchens to survive.
At age nine, Shannon dropped out of school. She was essentially "wild on the streets" from the age of seven on. At thirteen, Shannon met Frank Moran, a probation officer at Juvenile Justice Center, and at fourteen City Youth Now began paying for Shannon to take ballet lessons. These two events were life-changing for Shannon. She began summer school at the Juvenile Justice Center to catch up on the years she had missed and made the choice to leave her mother and enter the foster care system. She began a part-time job at City Youth Now, re-entered public school, and began to seriously train as a ballet dancer.
Watch this interview to learn more about her story and relationship with City Youth Now.

Опубликовано:

1 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 3

@kinedics2224 9 лет назад

Shannon You may not remember me but I was a member of Tharp’s company when we merged with ABT in the 90’s. When I first met you, I knew there was something about you that stood out from the rest…it was your history. You see - I was born and raised in Paterson NJ and lived in a household that was “chaotic” at best where drugs and violence prevailed. What saved me was a theater and dance company in Paterson by the name of The Inner City Ensemble. The first time I saw them dance, I wanted to be a part of them. The interesting thing about it all was that I trained for a year before I began performing with ICE. So, what kept me there for an entire year as a 14 year old with no idea if I would ever be good enough to perform…it was ballet. I took ballet 3 days a week and although I hated it as a performance medium, I craved its consistency. In my chaotic world, I knew that when I stepped into a ballet class that I would always begin with plies and end with grand allegro. When I moved to San Francisco in 92, I danced with ODC until I retired in 98. Fate would have it that I would return to the east coast in 2008 where I would attend Mason Gross School of the Arts and receive a BFA in Dance and later, an EdM in Dance Education from The Graduate School of Education. Today I have a full-time position at an elementary school in the Crown-Heights section of Brooklyn teaching dance to children that are living in conditions similar to mine when I was growing up. Yes…saving one child is worth it because that one child will go out into the world and save others…its simple mathematics. I’m not a religious person. However, I was told by some random person that what we do today, you and I, is “god’s work,” perhaps it is.

@karenouse3820 9 лет назад

Shannon, you are stunning and so amazing. Your interview makes me cry. I am so grateful to have met you early on in your process. You have always been a humble, sensitive, and empathetic friend. And you are a powerful role model for those who have lost faith. They just need to see this interview to restore their hope!