After hardship, UCLA dancer provides haven for inner-city youth
Fifth-year student in the department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, Khamari Bendolph, grew up in Boston's troubled inner city, where he lost his father and brother in a drive-by shooting. Bendolph now tries to help youth dealing with the same struggles by mentoring them away from the dangers of inner-city life and hosting dance workshops.
Eight-year-old Khamari Bendolph set his stereo down in the crosswalk of Quincy Street in Boston, preparing for a dance battle with the neighbor’s kid. He synced the Harlem shake dance with the pulse of the music and shuffled his energetic feet to the heel toe, stopping only when cars needed to pass.
But dance was not the only battle Bendolph fought on Quincy Street that year. It was also the place where he trembled in his brother’s protective arms during a drive-by shooting. He could not dance on those streets until the gunpowder settled.
Influenced by his own beginnings, Bendolph, a fifth-year dance student, has ripened into a choreographer who provides dance as an outlet for youth living in troubled environments.
“Kids don’t live and grow up in Boston to have dreams,” Bendolph said. “They don’t have an outlet like dance that they have found.”
Growing up, dance was Bendolph’s form of play, anchoring him in artistic fantasies far removed from the harsh reality of Boston’s inner city.
“(Boston is) not a place for kids to grow up,” Bendolph said.
When Bendolph was 9 years old, he would stand in front of the TV in his upstairs bedroom, intrigued by the music videos of Usher and Aaliyah. He admired the confident demeanor that both artists exuded as their bodies flowed to the music. — Tehya Faulk, Mar. 6
Read the full article at the Daily Bruin website.