Crazy Dance / Medellin, Colombia
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
This may sound trite to many of us, but having a dream is a major accomplishment in a place that requires non-stop craft and guile just to stay alive.
Jhonny Hurtado grew up in the Limonar 2 neighbourhood on the outskirts of Medellín, Colombia. It’s one of many neighbourhoods that continue to struggle with local gang influence and drug-related violence as the city navigates its way out of a dark past.
Blessed with creative talent and the courage to foster a dream, Hurtado teamed with five friends to form Crazy Dance in 2015. The initial idea was to participate in a local dance competition, but the group quickly realised they were in a unique position to generate real social impact. They’d all lost friends and family to drugs and gang violence, and believed they’d found a way to help turn their community around. To pull it off, they knew they had to start with the kids.
Crazy Dance quickly gained local fame for their exhilarating live performances, but also as an alternative to violence through recreation and artistic expression. They now operate as an art-pacification organisation that offers dance, physical training, and life skills workshops to prevent local kids and young adults from falling into dangerous lifestyle traps. Their community counts more than 70 members ranging in age from 5 to 29, and every one of these represents a life saved.
Dedicated students earn the opportunity to join Crazy Dance’s “elite” group, which performs regularly across the city. Hurtado takes immense pride in watching his students progress, but is perhaps even more proud of watching them grow as human beings.
Beyond the physical training, Crazy Dance partners with the local government to provide workshops that specifically address mental and emotional well-being. These are mainly aimed at dealing with the violence that governs day-to-day life for many of these kids, both in and outside the home. They are given tools for coping with such daunting conditions, and the freedom to discuss their circumstances in a positive and caring environment. It’s thus no surprise to hear students use the word “family” when they speak of Crazy Dance.
As an extension of these workshops, members also look for ways to improve their community such as participating in neighbourhood clean-up campaigns. The aim is to help these young kids grow into positive and empowered human beings who will then have the courage to realise their dreams, and in turn reverse the negative stigma associated with their neighbourhood.
Hurtado beams when he speaks of former students who come back to visit, having moved on to medical school and other professional aims. It’s the tangible result of a mantra that’s repeated throughout the Crazy Dance community: If you can dream it, you can do it.
