RALEIGH -- To fend for themselves, Haitian street children often resort to shining shoes.
But what happens when a rich man smoking a fat cigar doesn't pay a 10-year-old shoe-shiner? That's the subject of one of the skits in the latest Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti production.
Life in the dusty neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince is transformed into art by the 10-man troupe of boys and young men who once knew those streets all too well. Thanks to the St. Joseph Home they can make a future for themselves by drumming, dancing and storytelling.
The troupe, now touring Triangle schools and universities, performed at the Magellan Charter School in North Raleigh on Thursday, igniting a frenzy of applause.
"This was the best thing I've seen here," said fourth-grader Reed Shannon, who could hardly sit still watching the troupe dance and play drums. "It was awesome."
The St. Joseph Home - a multidimensional mission that serves as a home for boys and for mentally and physically disabled children, and a school for girls - has been enthusiastically embraced by a host of Triangle-based organizations. One of them, Hearts with Haiti, helped arrange for the latest tour to raise money to reconstruct two buildings damaged in the January earthquake.
"We've watched these kids grow up and seen the things they're doing," said Cheryl Proctor, a nurse practitioner in Raleigh who helped start the nonprofit Hearts with Haiti eight years ago. "This is why we feel so strongly about the mission of this family."
During their Triangle stay, the troupe is being fed and housed by local residents who have contributed to the home.
For at least two troupe members it is a return trip. Bill Nathan, a former child slave, and Walnes Cangas, whose parents could not afford to care for him, have been to the Triangle numerous times.
Both men grew up in the home, earned a high school diploma and are now directors there. Two summers ago, they participated in the Duke Youth Academy, a two-week program run by the divinity school that is intended to train promising high school students in the life of the church.
Injured during quake
Nathan was here for most of the winter, too. He fell 75 feet when one of the St. Joseph homes collapsed during the earthquake. Airlifted to the United States, Nathan was treated by a Duke Hospital doctor for multiple broken ribs, cracked vertebrae, and torn ligaments. He returned to Haiti this past spring, and is the chief drummer in the show.
The 25-year-old St. Joseph Home is not an orphanage. Although some of the children who live there are orphans, the aim is not to place them with adoptive families but to nurture them in a community that cares for their well-being. Encouraging the arts is one way the children can express themselves and give back to society.
"The children have very low self-esteem living on the street," said Michael Geilenfeld, the founder and director of the St. Joseph Home. "One way to affirm them is through theater."
The troupe has been helped by professionals. Chuck Davis of the African American Dance Ensemble is a mentor. One member of the troupe, Jacky Asse, performed at the American Dance Festival and the troupe participated in Dance Africa, an annual series of performances in New York, Chicago and Washington.
But the children's own experiences growing up on the streets of Haiti form the basis for the troupe's dance routines.
"This is how we share our story," Nathan said, "through dance and drumming."
