By Brittany Penland
bpenland@charlotteobserver.com

As a child, Dejarius "D.J." Bright says, he had no rhythm.

But when he was 14, something clicked. He visited the break club at Independence High with a friend, and fell in love with break-dancing. He almost gave his mother, Justine Stuckey, a heart attack when he ran up the side of their house and did a back flip, she said. From then on, she said, you could find Bright going through the neighborhood dancing with a radio on his shoulder.

"No one can teach you how to dance," said Bright, now 18. "You have to develop your own style and character. But once (my friend) taught me that one basic, I realized I was actually pretty good at it.

"It pretty much changed who I was entirely, and helped me find myself."

By his senior year in high school, Bright was co-president of the break club. He also harnessed his self-taught dance skills to co-found a club, calling it Forever Learning Impossible Possibilities (FLIP). The club met twice a week and aimed to keep children in school, Bright said.

"I had ... friends who were really smart and talented, but they made the wrong decisions sometimes, and a lot of them ended up dropping out of school at age 16," Bright said. "I didn't want anyone else to miss out on this opportunity.

"We understand the importance of staying in school and we don't want anyone to be branded as the child who can't make it."

Aside from teaching freshmen and sophomores how to dance, FLIP also provided students with literacy and basic life skills, Bright said. When leading the group, Bright would have students read books like "The Freedom Writers Diary," and taught them skills, such as how to make flower bouquets, create collages and bind books. Most of Bright's FLIP students also attended break club.

"I had just started dancing freshman year and D.J. got me interested," said Toni Blue, 16, a student at Independence, who hopes to become an artist, attend Savannah College of Art and Design - and continue dancing. "I got started dancing in break club and now I feel more comfortable with people."

Each year, Bright puts on a b-boy, or break-boy, competition with friends, so dancers can learn from each other.

This month, Bright and friend Don Nguyen, 19, held a b-boy competition in William R. Davie Park's community building. As dancers warmed up - one in the center of a packed circle and others practicing solo - Bright seemed oblivious to everything but the techniques of two of his students.

Charlotte area b-boys met in both one-on-one competition (called 1v1) and crew battles. A red duct tape hexagon was set up in the center of the room, with Bright and Nguyen looking on as judges. They were also making sure competitors didn't touch or cross the barriers. About 50 kids filled the building to watch and compete.

Proceeds from the day went to the Jade Ribbon Campaign, an organization that fights hepatitis B and liver cancer in the Asian community.

"We wanted to do something where we could give back to the community," Nguyen said. "That's what our mission is now with these competitions."

In honor of the Jade Ribbon Campaign, the young men decided to call the competition Seppuku, which is a Japanese term for self-sacrifice, Nguyen said.

"We figured self-sacrifice yourself to do something good," he said.

Bright's mother said the young men wanted to create an environment where b-boys and b-girls could come together and support each other through competitions.

"He knew you can only learn from someone who is better than you, so he wanted to create that support group," she said.

Aside from dancing, Bright is also excelling in school. Recently, he was awarded a Kohl's Cares scholarship for his contributions to the community. In the spring, he will attend Central Piedmont Community College, with hopes to transfer eventually to an arts school, to major in digital illustrating or dance.

As for mentoring kids, Bright said he hopes to continue doing so at Independence.

"From the students I learned a lot, because there's hidden potential in everybody," he said. "If you're willing to give a person a chance, I'm pretty sure there's something you can find in them that you can enjoy."

Got news to share with Qcity readers? Email us at editor@qcitymetro.com.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter below

Sign up for our Weekly Email Newsletter Email: For Email Marketing you can trust

Other Ways to Share Twitter Del.icio.us MySpace

Discussions and Submission Agreement