- [Narrator] Next on Curate.

(bright music) (guitar playing) (drums beating rhythmically) - [Frederick] If I can motivate them to be better, then I've done my job.

(violin music) - [Emily] Music is very important to me.

It's something that you can share with other people and it kind of brings everyone together.

- [Keisha] When I'm flying in the air, it is an overwhelming feeling that just puts a big smile on my face.

- This is Curate.

(bright music) - Welcome.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

Thanks for joining us.

We're coming to you from the Great Bridge Battlefield Museum deep in the heart of Chesapeake.

It is a site of a revolutionary war battle and is an ideal location for history buffs, nature lovers and for this week's episode of Curate.

Thanks to the Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterways History Foundation for hosting us.

- And we started this week's show with some more recent Chesapeake history.

Frederick Dixon is an amazing drummer and teacher of the art of drumming and other life lessons.

He's figured out how to take his substantial talent and spread it throughout the community, not just to entertain but to change the lives of kids.

- [Heather] Fred started Shark City Drum and Dance Corps right here in Chesapeake and his organization is making a resounding impact.

Lisa Godley has the story of a guy who wants to bang on the drums all day (drums beating) and inspire kids (children chanting) to want the same.

Fred Dixon and Shark City Drum and Dance Corps are our 757 featured artists.

(bright music) - [Narrator] What started out as an experiment four years ago with just four kids has wrapped, (drums beating rhythmically) tapped and stepped its way into a league that's capturing national acclaim.

Meet the Shark City Drum Corps.

(upbeat music) The man behind this talented group of drummers is Frederick Dixon, a percussion instructor with a dream he hoped would work.

- One day it was raining.

I think we had like two people and I looked at my partner who's out there, Mr. Edwards and I told him, I said, "This is this not gonna work."

And he looked at me and he was like, "It's gonna work because I believe in it."

So we took about two weeks off and we decided to go to Harbor Park and we looked up that very first day back and we had eight kids and then the next week we had 16 and then the next week we had 25.

From there we grew into a whole organization and three years later we have an autism group, we have an adult group, we have elementary school kids, we have middle school kids, we have kids my age, so we have a lifelong program now.

(drums beating) - [Narrator] Shark City's youngest drummer is three, the oldest, 82.

- [Fred] The mission is to build better relationships with our community, but our main mission is to get as many of these kids off the streets as we possibly can.

(siren wailing) (gentle music) Our streets are getting bad and gun violence in our area.

It is the astronomical levels, so we feel that if we can bring them here and we can get 'em here for one day, they'll stay.

Somebody needs to step in and be a positive role model to be able to be around people and do things you love.

I believe it's a great opportunity and my goal is get as many people to play drum as it possibly can.

I started playing drums when I was like elementary school.

I played in middle school, I played in high school.

(drums beating) Then in my 10th grade year in high school, my mother passed away.

It put me in a very dark and depressing place.

Like I didn't know what I wanted to do.

I didn't know where I wanted to go.

I didn't know anything.

Everything had just stopped and I believe my family here realized that the path I was going and where I was at.

I had only applied the two colleges, which was Norfolk State and Virginia State.

Well, we can't put you in Norfolk State because you already over here and your mindset ain't right.

We need to get you out of Norfolk to get you focused on where you need to go.

So I went to Virginia State, talked to the band director there.

I started playing drums there and I started loving playing drums again and I graduated and was like, "I can teach as many people as possible and if I can share my story and if I'm able to make it and become what I've become then how many people would benefit off hearing my story and be able to be whatever they would become."

- [Narrator] During parade season and local performances, you're sure to see the drum line but when it comes to their annual showcase, they incorporate much more into their presentation.

(balls thud) (guitar music) (drums beating rhythmically) - Our last trophy was in Atlanta, Georgia when we competed in 2019 and we won first place there and we had won nine trophies that whole season, so we were on fire.

COVID came and once COVID came, we couldn't do the trophies in the competitions anymore.

Then we came back this year, we won two trophies so, we're back on that path again.

- [Narrator] Even when they aren't competing, this group stays busy.

Like this Halloween video done to Michael Jackson's thriller.

(drums beating) (Thriller instrumentals) - We do a lot of physical training because we try to get a lot of us in shape for playing the drums and being able to hold drums for a long period of time and sometimes just standing there, it's like a mental thing.

- I love this group because even with some of the other things my son is involved in sports, football, wrestling, this group is really like a family and it's a positive energy whenever he comes to practice.

He's always in a good mood when he practices and it's just a different vibe or energy to this group than other things he's involved with.

I went to Georgia, that was so much fun and just seeing the kids and their element.

They got a big learning experience and some of these kids are taking what they learn here and going to college with it.

(children chanting) A lot of our kids are getting scholarships, full rides to go to college.

So this is just another opportunity for him to figure out what he is most passionate about.

- [Narrator] Six of Fred Dixon's eighth graders will be playing for their high school drum lines this year and another four will be on the drum line at Norfolk State University.

(drums beating) (cymbals clanging) - We got about 20 students that marshal college right now with several HBCUs.

- [Narrator] The impact that Shark City Drum Corps has on its drummers is clear.

During summer camp, we witnessed members who preferred to practice than eat.

- He doesn't really stop practicing.

If I'm in the car, I have to get him to stop tapping on things, so, he loves the drums and he just took to it and now he's just blossoming in it.

- [Fred] I wish I was that way when I was that age, but if I can motivate them to be better, then I've done my job.

(bright music) - [Narrator] Want more curate?

Find us on the web, surf on over to whro.org/curate.

- One of the cooler projects we get to work on is a collaboration with Old Dominion University where we lend our expertise to a documentary class to help them learn the finer points of video storytelling.

The best work from that class each semester ends up right here in a segment we call Curate You.

This is one such story produced and directed by Dylan Batista, along with his team of student filmmakers, a Poku Dum four, Laura Bolden and Sheridan Coats.

They explore the life of a music major violinist, Emily Pollard.

(violin music) - Music is very important to me because it's something that you can share with other people and it kind of brings everyone together and it's just a way to express yourself.

Hi, my name is Emily Pollard.

I'm 20 years old and I'm a junior at Old Dominion University and I play violin.

(violin music) My dream goal with violin is to play with professional symphony and also to teach private lessons and maybe play with a professional.

(violin music) I have a lot of things about the violin.

I think one of the things that's most unique about it is there's so many things that you can apply to make your sound more interesting, like using vibrato with your left hand or different kind of techniques with your bow.

It's just such a versatile instrument.

(violin music) My major is music performance.

I am a part of ODU Symphony Orchestra and their Russell singer Quartet.

(violin music) So when I guess "setting up" the violin, there's not actually that much that you have to do, obviously taking it out of the case.

And then if you use a shoulder rest which not everyone does, you just put it where it's comfortable for you, a little bit higher.

And then tightening the bow.

I usually leave it loose in the case when I'm packing up so I have to tighten it every time before I use it and I just tighten it like that.

And then I add a little bit of rosin and all that rosin does is really just helps produce the sound and creates a little bit of friction so that your bow's not sliding all over the place.

And that's it.

(violin music) My practice schedule really depends on the week.

I try to practice every day and when I practice every day, I aim for two hours, ideally three or four.

And I try to aim for between 13 to 20 hours a week.

Balancing schoolwork and practicing is very difficult.

What works best for me is actually getting to school earlier than my first class, like an hour earlier and I'll just practice like an hour before my first class.

And then with any breaks that I have during the day I'll try and practice whenever I can.

Currently I am working on the first movement of Mozart Violin Concerto number five and a major.

Last semester I played Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto number three.

And these are two very different pieces so it's hard to compare them.

(violin music) I think I like playing this piece more at the moment.

It's a little bit easier than the Saint-Saëns but they're both very unique and I love playing with them both.

(violin music) I love baking because it's kind of a de-stressor for me.

I've been baking for a long time.

I started when I was like nine or 10 and you get to eat what you make at the end so it's like a reward.

(laughs) I just made pumpkin bread and it swirled with cream cheese and cinnamon sugar.

So I'm very excited.

(violin music) I think my advice for upcoming music majors or really anyone studying music right now would be to practice.

Definitely put hours of practice in but also try not to compare yourself.

It's really easy, especially for me to look at someone that's much younger than me who's already playing like Paganini and there's always gonna be someone that's better than you and a lot younger than you.

But you know, just remember that everyone works with their own pace and that's okay.

(violin music) - A sort of fitness center in Reno, Nevada is gaining lots of attention and a big following.

The team behind Acro Enso describes their space as a large scale movement arts studio where grace, flow and athleticism come together to create an amazing experience.

(bright music) - We like to think about creative discovery and in ways that we can allow people to explore movement, explore themselves and create and also have fun.

(bright music) Acro Enso is perhaps the only place in Reno and one of the few places in the United States where we have a very particular focus and program based around sea wheel and partner acrobatics and where we incorporate a variety of other circus arts.

(bright music) - The name Acro Enso came to us after a long journey of asking many friends and family about what we should call this place.

- We knew that we really wanted to focus on partner acrobatics and sea wheel and so we wanted acrobatics to be a part of the name.

We also wanted something referencing a sea wheel.

So in this case, a circle - Enso is actually Japanese for a calligraphy practice that they do.

It's circle and when they draw the circle, it's always incomplete and it's supposed to symbolize that whoever draws the circle, they are perfect and imperfect in that moment.

And it's wonderful as is.

They're completely present and this moment's never gonna last forever.

It's gonna always be changing and that's kind of how I feel about acrobatics when I'm flying in the air or when I'm holding somebody up.

It's present, it's in the moment.

There's nothing else in the world that matters.

It's perfect, it's imperfect, and it's me.

To us, acro means meaningful play and enso means authentic movement in whatever form that is.

So all put together.

Acro Enso is meaningful play through authentic movement.

(bright music) Sea wheel is a giant metal wheel covered in PVC but what you do with it is you get inside of it, you spin around in it, you play with it.

(bright music) - A lot of what we do in the sea wheel is learning how to stand and how to root ourselves into our feet.

And so there're actually a lot of similarities between learning sea wheel and learning ballet.

In sea wheel, it's all about rotation and understanding where your center is and being able to create a really nice spinning axis.

You really have to develop this intuitive sense of where your center of gravity is, where it's going and how to interact with that.

And it's a really fun process.

(bright music) - Sports Acro is where you have partnerships, either groups of two groups of three or more and you come together and you lift each other up, you balance each other, you throw each other in the air, flip around and catch each other.

And it's a whole competitive sport on its own.

We do compete with our sports team but we also have an adults team where we focus on performance for the kids as well.

We like to have that performance opportunity.

Our acrobatics teams will train for about two hours per training and in that two hours, they go through a variety of conditioning drills, handstand drills, partner skills and at the end of practice we focus primarily on choreography and linking all of those skills together.

(bright music) Our son's name is Huckleberry and our daughter's name is Coco.

Family is everything to us.

We wanted to create a place that our children could come to and be able to grow inside of and someday even take over if that's something that they're interested in.

So our kids are here all the time.

They are taken care of by the village of this community.

- When Huckleberry is wandering around, he's got all sorts of people interacting with him, playing with him, teaching him, and same thing with Coco and just watching how they've blossomed and how they've come up in it.

Obviously as parents and we don't want to project onto them but we do want to provide opportunities.

And so being, having the ability to provide those opportunities and to watch them take them up enthusiastically has just been amazing.

(gentle music) - When we started this place and we had only one or two people coming in and our acro team only had five kids on it, it felt like a lot.

It felt like we had a long journey ahead of us.

- Especially with what we've had to go through.

We were just about to celebrate our first year anniversary when COVID happened.

The number of times that we thought we would have to close this place were, you know, more than we can count.

- Now, when I come into this space, when I can see the floor filled with people and our team of 18 kids, everybody playing with each other and having fun with each other, it is an overwhelming feeling that just puts a big smile on my face - A really big feeling of wonder almost that it could happen.

(chuckles) (dramatic music) - It creates a kind of life that I don't think I would wanna live without.

- The message behind a mural painted more than 50 years ago in Cleveland is as important today as it was then.

Looking for inspiration, now the people of Cleveland have added a new coat of paint with a major restoration, hoping the effort will renew the message that their community is stronger when we can all sit together.

(gentle music) - A little over a half century ago, two men met in downtown Cleveland to celebrate what they both hoped would be a new symbol for the city - [Katy] In 1969, my dad was 37 years old and he was a creative director in Cleveland, Ohio.

- [Cordele] In 1969, my father Carl Stokes was mayor of Cleveland at the age of 42.

- [Narrator] The occasion was the dedication of a mural that spoke to their mutual passion for brotherhood and social justice.

John Morrell told the crowd that his work, life is sharing the same park bench was painted to honor Carl Stokes, who was two years into his first term as the first black mayor of a major American city.

Stokes's election in 1967 had brought the eyes of the nation to Cleveland, especially after the devastation of recent racial uprisings across the country.

Here, was a moment of hope, a moment of optimism.

- The optimism came that he believed in America that a black man can become elected in a majority white city.

- [Narrator] The idea to celebrate that spirit came from a guy who originally hailed from Rochester, New York.

Art had been part of John Morrell's life ever since he was a kid.

- Well, he started cartooning when he was in the army.

He did little pictures that are just marvelous.

- He always did Christmas cards every year and he would hand draw them.

He would hand draw all the birthday cards and anytime there was a holiday he would do that.

- [Narrator] A job opportunity brought the family to Cleveland in the mid 1960s.

- His personality, in my opinion really came out in the late sixties, you know with very influenced by the times and having long hair.

It was an expressive thing for him.

- [Narrator] John Morell's outward appearance was emblematic of the thoughts and feelings he harbored inside.

- He had a very strong social justice leaning in, you know personally in his work and cared a lot about organizations in that dealt with the wellbeing of you know people in need in our community.

The mural was created in 1969 when there was a lot of social racial unrest in Cleveland and in cities around the country.

And the message that John Morrell and Mayor Stokes brought forward was about togetherness and brotherhood.

And that's the symbolism of this mural.

- He believed in public art.

He wanted the public to see all art.

He didn't think you should pay to get into a museum.

Everybody should enjoy art and should be able to see it.

People that wouldn't ordinarily see art should see it.

He found the building.

(chuckles) They went in and they asked the owner, "Would you mind if I put this on this wall?"

And the guy's like, "Okay."

We would just go and hang out on the weekends 'cause it kind of encompassed my dad for the weekends.

And he would ask people to come up, "You want to come paint?"

And they'd look around, you know, people would just climb up and slap a little paint on.

He didn't really care if it was perfect.

He didn't, it made no difference to him.

He just wanted people to be happy.

He wanted to explain what he was doing.

- Well, I know that he felt at the time it was important, you know when he was painting it, he was getting death threats from people that they were gonna shoot him off the scaffolding.

They did not want that black figure on there.

They were literally calling up the house and threatening him.

- [Narrator] The mural was dedicated on June 7th, 1969.

- It was exciting seeing my dad be recognized for something that he had done.

There was dancing, there was all sorts of fun stuff for a little kid.

And my dad looked happy.

I mean he was just so grateful that it got there because he didn't do it on his own.

He had a lot of support and he got a lot of donations and he had people that wanted to help and he made sure that everybody knew that strangers helped paint it.

You know, people wanted to be part of this and he wanted to make sure that it stayed there and that people loved it - [Narrator] But not everybody loved it.

There was even talk in the early nineties of painting over the mural and replacing it with a new image.

(melancholic music) - He was upset, he was beyond upset and he was so grateful when they did decide to redo it and rededicate it and he was very proud.

- So I think it's a really wonderful example about the sort of integrity and the sort of longevity and the importance of this piece.

And it's part of why we're proud to give it its next life again.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] As part of its 10th anniversary, the Public Art Organization Land Studio was able to fund a restoration of the mural which will include new landscaping and actual benches in the pocket park that's hosted the painting for all these years.

Alan Giberson, a young artist with a love for old school techniques, was tapped to do the job.

- I've definitely done like restoration jobs, like, not like this.

This is like, it's almost graphic designing but it was so pre graphic design.

It's like, like it's a ahead of its time in a lot of ways.

You know, the line work is really nice for being rough brick.

(bright music) It's not really hard to paint or anything.

I just like, I just always want stuff to last long and I want to be able to like see it when I'm older.

(bright music) - The guy responsible for the original mural won't get to see this newly refreshed version of his most enduring work.

John Morrell died in 2010 in his native Rochester at the age of 77 but his family will have it to hold onto.

- I am so happy 'cause I had been pushing to talk Cleveland into making it better, fix it, paint it, don't let it fade away or cover it up.

It's something he was so proud of and it keeps him living.

- He was very proud of that message of racial tolerance and it's obviously just as timely if not more timely today.

(bright music) - My wife has dubbed this the mini museum of the house.

(chuckles) So here, this is a original photo on the east of 147th Street with my father and myself.

That's me as a baby.

I just really hate that.

Number one, we're still in this situation and we're in even a greater fight today than may be what we were back in the sixties.

The significance of the park bench still resonates because the fight still continues.

(bright music) - We are just about out of time this week.

But before we go, we wanted to say thanks again to the Chesapeake Great Bridge Battlefield Museum for having us here.

They are open from 10 to 4, Wednesday through Saturday.

You can find more on their website, gbbattlefield.org.

- Now we're gonna leave you with more cool, cool beats from the Shark City Drum and Dance Corps.

Thanks for being with us.

(drum beating) I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

We'll see you next time on Curate.

(bright music) (drum beating) (drums beating rhythmically)