Area foster children to benefit from free hip hop dance camp next week

The week-long camp, made possible by a grant, will be taught by Henrico teenager Justin Holloway.

August 13, 2015; 10:33 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

From the news release:

Local foster kids from UMFS will soon learn how to express themselves through the art of dance, thanks to the passions of Henrico teenager Justin Holloway.

Holloway, who studies dance at Henrico High School’s Center For the Arts and attends the Central Virginia Dance Academy, applied for and received the 2015 Spark Award grant from The Community Foundation, with the goal of helping kids in his community see dance as an expression.

The grant, which totaled $1,500, will pay for a weeklong dance camp for a dozen foster kids between the ages of 8 and 13-years-old. It will also fund costumes, supplies and dance shoes for the campers. Additionally, the grant paid for Holloway to visit an instructional dance camp in San Francisco the first week of August, where he learned from instructors how to teach the art of dance to others.

The weeklong dance camp for UMFS’ foster kids will take place Monday, August 17th to Friday, August 21st, 2015 at the Central Virginia Dance Academy on Staples Mill Road in the West End. Holloway hopes that the foster kids currently at UMFS will get to take away an experience they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

“I want to give these kids a chance,” he said. “A chance to find out who they are and what they like. And hopefully, give them an outlet to express themselves through hip-hop dancing.”

After high school, Holloway hopes to study dance/kinesiology in college with a goal of pursuing dance therapy. The dance camp is the first step in what could become an opportunity to turn his passion into a lifelong career, all while helping others, according to Tory Everson, a social worker with UMFS who is helping make the dance camp happen.

“This is such a wonderful opportunity for the kids at UMFS,” Everson said. “We are very fortunate that Justin has such a big heart and chose our organization for the camp.”