- Coming up next on curate.

- So I Googled alternative dance and pole dance came up and I realized that there is opportunity and I was like, maybe I can still have a dance career.

- There are a lot of artistic geniuses that just don't get a chance to get seen.

- Chick phase was always the hardest phase.

It's gonna hurt, embrace it, and that's where our mentality came from.

- Welcome to Curate.

I'm Jason Kypros.

- And I'm Heather Mazzoni.

- Shaina Cruea is not only a graduate of the Governor's School for the Arts and Old Dominion University, but is also the 2014 United States National Pole Dance Champion.

- She is known for combining her unique contemporary dance style with the beauty of fluid strength and grace, and has traveled the world teaching and performing - In her latest venture, Shaina and her business partner recently opened their new pole dance and fitness studio, COVA Pole & Movement.

- If there is somebody on the street that's like, what do you do?

I'm like, well, I, you know, I'm, I'm a pole dancer.

They're like, you're what?

I'm just like, trust me.

People are like, okay, my particular style and pole dances.

You know, I was a contemporary ballet dancer and then I started doing pole and then I combine those two things.

That's what I love.

That's what fulfills my soul.

Those are, you know, the pieces that I create.

The fact is that pole dance did start in clubs and I have admiration for these people.

Like they created this from nothing.

It was just like a thing that they threw themselves into.

Dance has always been a part of my life.

So it became a dream to move to New York City and become a dancer.

I landed a really small gig, but it didn't necessarily lead to anything else.

But I stayed in New York and continued to do different auditions and nothing really came from any of the auditions that I was doing at that time.

I was 28, which was like over the hill for trying to start a dance career in New York City.

So I googled like alternative dance in New York City and pole dance came up and I was like, whoa, this is amazing.

And I realized that there is opportunity even at 30 in the pole dance community.

And I was like, maybe I can still have a, a dance career.

I started pole dancing in 2012 and two years later was when I won the US National Championship in 2014.

And it was some kind of dream that I was living that I never even really had.

It was very, very surreal and it was super cool because I thought that my life as a dancer was done.

The beauty of full dances that you don't have to have any kind of specific background.

You don't have to be a certain size or a certain age or a certain race, a certain sex.

You can literally, anybody can do it.

Which is just one of the things that draws me to it today.

And one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about teaching it and spreading the joy of it.

I got married and pregnant 2018, had baby one, 2019, baby two, 2020.

I was terrified.

I luckily have a really amazing partner.

- It's so cool just seeing the impact that you have on these little humans' lives and the way they answer questions and their mannerisms.

I see so much of myself and her in both of our kids.

- Both of them jump on the pole.

They'd be so exciting.

Like it was two weeks before my son's birthday and I was doing all this planning for his birthday and I found the lump and I was like, I need to stop planning his birthday.

I knew immediately that it was something super serious and they went in to remove it and they realized after they opened him up that something wasn't quite right.

He had a cancerous tumor called Rhabdomyosarcoma and you know, it's literally every parent's worst nightmare.

And you know, from there we were very lucky.

It was still stage one, it seemed to be localized.

He had the tumor resection surgery.

It was super successful.

Clear margins.

He had the one year chemo, so I took him every week - Right around the 10 month, all his imaging was coming back negative and everything was looking good.

We're pretty much just on an imaging plan from from now on.

- He's, I think, more mature than most six year olds, you know, 'cause he's gone through some, some things.

He's certainly still a 6-year-old, rambunctious and crazy and oh my gosh, dance wasn't only something that was there.

It was there to help me get through things.

It was the one consistent thing that I had when my son was going through a treatment and, and even just being a new mom, I was lucky to be able to still find the time to come into this room and you know, have an hour to create and dance a little bit.

One of the hardest things for me during the whole time was, you know, being a mom of a toddler and still dealing with a toddler, not knowing how to handle it, being grateful that he's alive.

And I feel like there were other people that were going through that exact same thing, but I just didn't have access to those people.

When I met Miracle, she had already been pole dancing.

Yvonne, I eventually got into pole dancing.

All of three of our sons were going through treatment around the same time.

So that's kind of how the three of us connected.

So the idea of Warrior Mom initially sparked with Yvonne and Miracle talking about wanting to create a community of some sort that moms had access to starting at the beginning of their journey and they decided to add me in.

- I feel like behind every cancer mom, there's a story and we wanted to create a space where we can have these events and these sessions where we, it's a community.

What is happening to you Who needs mental help?

That's extremely important for both the kiddos and the parents.

And if you are the mom that needs financial support, who can we connect you to that can give you that - Right now?

We have the pleasure to be under our amazing fighters with Leanna Elite.

So we are under her umbrella.

- Becoming nonprofit is a process on its own, but as we are working on growing and expanding, it's a really perfect beautiful relationship that we have with our amazing fighters.

I had organized a performance a year prior to us kind of creating Warrior Mom initiative and I thought, Ooh, what if we do a show that benefits our pediatric cancer organization?

And then we thought about not only just doing the show, but also offering raffles to bring in more money for it.

And that's kind of how it was born Gold.

- We have performers from up and down the east coast.

We have somebody from Arizona coming this year.

There's some world class talent here in Virginia and in New York and in DC and National Global Pole Dance Champions.

- You know, it really is a dream to be able to combine two things that I'm so passionate about, Paul I've been doing forever and pediatric cancer awareness.

People know about it and they hear about it, but you know, people that come to the show get a real feel for what some of these families go through.

This performance piece, I purposefully did not make it too, too challenging so that I could keep my story and my purpose in mind during the entire thing.

My story revolved around my love and admiration for my husband and his support through my life and our life, particularly through the times my son was going through treatment.

I have literally the love of my life that I'm married to.

I have these two beautiful, amazing, healthy children and I still have all of my dance and all of my pole dance and my students and you know, I feel I'm very lucky.

- Okay, - WHRV's Barry Graham has started his very own tiny desk series highlighting the rich musical talent in Hampton Roads.

Tune in online at whrv.org/tiny desk to check it out.

- Next up is a foundation rooted in family fueled by creativity and deeply connected to Hampton Roads.

- That's right now, when your last name is Pharoah, you're kind of destined to make an entrance.

But this story isn't about punchlines.

Well, not only about punchlines.

- The Pharoah Phamily Phoundation founded by comedian Jay Pharoah's family uses the arts as a pathway forward, offering scholarships and hands-on support to young creatives in our community.

- From classrooms to community spaces.

They are investing in talent, confidence, and opportunity.

Proving that sometimes the biggest laughs come from giving back - The arts are very important.

And I feel like there are a lot of artistic geniuses that just don't get a chance to get seen.

And I thank you all that you all have been part of this journey with me.

And now I can pass it down.

I can give out scholarships to children who want to pursue arts and who want to take it to that next level.

- The Jay Pharoah Fine Arts Scholarship can be applied for by any senior in the public high school system in Chesapeake and any senior at IC Norcom who's focused on the arts.

It's a $5,000 scholarship.

And depending on the funding that we've received, sometimes we may award two scholarships.

Sometimes we may award three scholarships.

And this year I think we're focused on awarding four scholarships.

- Launching my foundation.

Man, I'm so happy.

This has been 11 years in the make that we are doing our first vet, - He said, I wanna do a scholarship for, and he'd give it to Indian River.

So every year, you know, they would submit and we then we were selected.

He I and Shayna, you know, and he'd give a 5,000 scholarship.

He would just give the scholarship out of his pocket.

It wasn't until 2022 that we initiated the Pharoah Phamily Phoundation.

- I just wanted to say that the Pharoah family has done so much for me.

This scholarship has given me a way to kind of follow my passions and continue my work.

Being a creative.

- So sometimes we have fundraising events, people that come, they have such a great time.

- Oh, I just want to take a second to thank the Pharoah Phamily Phoundation for having me come out to this event right here.

- TowneBank, they've been donating to us.

Truist Bank started supporting us last year.

Different congressmen and delegates have been supporting us, but I'm still looking for donors to support us.

- Honestly.

I say this is one of the most life changing opportunities I've ever had.

Really with most organizations, they just pretty much give you the money then it is whatever you do is on you.

But I feel like with Jay it was very different.

- Once you win, Jay says, oh you part of the Pharaoh fam.

It's more than just the initial funding source.

You know, it's being part of a community.

We always try to connect with the scholarship winners.

We'll see if we can set up a zoo.

- We just wanted to do a check-in and see how everybody was doing over the past year.

We know it's been pretty arduous for everybody, especially with the transition between going from high school to college.

Yeah, I'm glad to see you all are alive kicking and doing well.

- How's everybody doing?

Where's everybody at?

What can y'all tell us about your journey - Living in Philly versus living in Virginia is two totally things.

Yeah.

The people, the way the city's built, the way you get from one place to another.

It was very difficult for me.

Like for the first three weeks, like I always miss my mom's home cooking.

I don't want some sweet tea.

They, I don't got no sweet tea in the normal.

- That's the connection and that's what Jay wants to do.

He wants to be a part of the journey.

- Our first scholarship winner is Phoenix Banks.

Our second recipient of the 2025 Jay Pharoah Scholarship Award is Isabella Capri Rinaldi.

- They're very supportive.

Ramona Farrow, she keeps in touch.

It's very nice.

There's not a lot of art local scholarships at all.

There's like a lot for teaching.

There's a lot for like the sciences and doctors.

But then there is only this Jay Pharoah scholarship for the arts.

- What you can do with the arts, if you take it to another level, you have no boundaries.

There's no limits.

- They mentioned how I wrote about wanting to make good quality Christian films and they supported me on that.

They said how important it was for those kinds of movies to be out there.

I do remember them coming up to me during the banquet and telling me that themselves.

- We also are a very religious family.

- I am Jean Malice Thornton, one half of the rap group clips.

It's always a pleasure to share my experience with community and fellow creatives as there is an abundance of wealth in shared information.

So I give thanks to my creator in the name of Jesus for my gifts and for my talents.

- We see you.

I see you.

The foundation sees you.

- In my opinion, God gives you a gift.

It's not for you, it's for you to give out.

It's to for you to help somebody else.

That's what we're trying to do.

- This is where it once was made.

An honest reflection of The weight, the cost, of a silent space.

On and on, over and over.

And you, you'll find.

Yourself walking alone.

And you, you'll find.

Yourself walking alone.

Boxed out cut off when know one knows you walk alone.

And this is where it once was made.

Confession built, foundation frayed.

The weight, the cost, of a silent space on and on over and over.

And you, you'll find yourself walking alone.

And you, you'll find yourself walking alone.

Boxed out cut off No one knows that you walk alone.

And this was all I had.

Traded off with no means to end.

And this was all I had.

Traded off, no means to end.

- Welcome back to Curate Presents.

I am Kayda Plus and I'm here with Jonathan Kemp.

How's it going?

It's going really great.

I'm happy to be here.

I'm very excited to talk about one thing in particular.

It has something to do with macaroni and cheese, but I'm sure we'll get to that.

First, I wanna learn about kick phase.

What's kick phase?

How did you get it started and what inspires you to start it?

- Kick Phase is a independent production company that I started along with filmmaker friends that I've just met throughout my life in college.

And we are just a collective of black filmmakers who wanted to tell stories that represented us.

It's funny because I used to run track in college.

- Okay.

- And when I ran, I would break down my races into four phases.

The first phase was the first 100 meters and it was accelerate, get out fast, get out the blocks.

The second phase was the second 100 meters, which was my stride phase.

I'm settling into my race.

The third phase was what I called the kick phase.

And it was this part of the race that I had to mentally embrace this kind of discomfort.

But then the last phase was just maintaining.

You've trained for this, you know what you're doing.

Just finish strong.

And that became this thing that I noticed everywhere in life.

And the kick phase was always the hardest phase where it's like, this is gonna suck, it's gonna hurt, embrace it.

And that's where a lot of our mentality and filmmaking came from.

- That speaks a lot about the quality of your production.

Tell me what about that time is about?

- About that time is about two cousins who discovered the family secret of time travel and decide to use it to travel back in time to get her to go play at their grandma's Mac and cheese.

Mac - And cheese, yes.

- Okay.

The process, they discover a bunch of family secrets they knew nothing about.

It just turns into this story of them trying to stop their family from falling apart in the process.

- Is this the complete version of about that time or - This is not the complete version of about that time.

So we spent the majority of 2025 shooting an independent feature film.

We went out by ourselves to do this and as we're doing it, we really saw just the possibilities and capabilities of what it could be.

- So this is just a small version.

- This is a very small version.

- And you need to get the funding to get to the whole version.

- Yes.

So we're working on getting that funding so we can make it what it's meant to be.

- I'm excited for you to get it 'cause that it, the, the production quality looked amazing.

- I'll say it proudly.

I think I have some of the most talented friends in the world and I'll stand on that.

- Well Jonathan, thank you so much for coming by and I wish you all the luck in the future.

- Thank you so much.

I enjoyed being here.

- Of course, of course.

This is what you can look forward to with about that time.

- Why you keep calling me a stranger?

- Because you act like a stranger.

- So you walk alone in the woods with strangers.

Now - Thought I'd take the risk.

- You gotta be more careful.

Never know what someone might do - And what might they do.

- I cannot wait to see how this is gonna be done.

You usually see networks trying to put something on like this to make it be what we're trying to make it be.

And we're doing this on the strength of our own.

- Scene 10 2D, take one, marker.

- The hell you doing on my porch.

- All of the like, people do wonder now.

Everyone acts so good and Hollywood, this, this is how you do it.

You face the sun with your shirt off and you dance like there's no tomorrow shit off.

- You laughing like ain't no good deal, boy.

Yeah, yeah, you, you know I'm saying something like that.

You know Organic chemist Entrepr.

Okay, okay.

- You quick to pull out their money.

You got baby, baby mamas.

You got all these kids all over the place.

You trying to pull out money.

How you - Think I got the baby mama?

Gimme that - Man.

This is probably one of the best projects that I've been on in my career thus far, man.

- It's been amazing.

It's been a dream come true.

- Ain't that doing just fine?

Okay.

I'm your husband.

- Last time I checked, ain't no green book for Tom Trevor Hero.

I'm kill - You.

- Okay.

I can explain.

I can explain - My food.

I kill you twice.

- We wouldn't be here if you just let us make a plate of mac and cheese.

You don't wanna - Be a man, but you don't wanna take the responsibility like one.

You - Don't have to die to prove that - You - Love him.

- Why do you always need everything wrapped in this curtain?

- Open back.

That's to me.

I know right there.

What?

- It'll make you feel better.

- No, - It'll make you feel better - Out here.

There was some dump Mac and cheese.

- It's not just Mac cheese.

- Do you forgive me?

She will.

- That is so cool.

I love seeing young artists and filmmakers betting on themselves to make their dreams come true.

- For sure.

The determination of a focused artist is unmatched and that's what makes Curate so important because we get to bring these stories from their studios to your living room.

- I totally agree.

And we'll be back next week with even more incredible stories.

- That's right Heather.

We'll see you then.