Nurturing LA Youth through Dance and Wellness!

Play Equity to Advance Mental Health (sponsored by the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation)

South LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

The current mental health crisis in our youth population, induced by the pandemic, is the primary issue we address. On May 3, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that "[o]ur country is facing an unprecedented mental health crisis," and that it "isn't just affecting adults, it's devastating young people" ("Fact Sheet...," hhs.gov). While working with L.A. youth during the pandemic, we experienced an increase in moods and behaviors linked to social anxiety and depression such as sadness, hopelessness, and disengagement, and in more dire cases, a suicidal incident. For our second issue, we understand the lack of access to the creative industry employment, and to dance in particular, for underrepresented youth to be an economic problem. Working-class communities of color do not have access to adequate or long-term dance training because dancing is an expensive endeavor. This impacts these youth, and their ability to imagine and pursue dance as a viable vocation.

Culture Flow Projects is a multi-faceted non-profit organization that addresses the nationwide mental health crisis while funneling L.A. youth into the creative industry through dance and wellness. We have four ongoing programs: 1) Dance and Global Consciousness, a youth programming launched in 2005 that provides accessible global dance training to K-12 students as well as community members living in greater L.A.; 2) Open House Family Collective, a community of House dance and music practitioners who aim to preserve and grow House culture by organizing open dance sessions, classes, and events since 2008; 3) the Culture Flow artist residency initiated in 2020 that consists of street and social dancers ages 18 and up interested in dance theater/experimental choreography; and 4) PiYoDa Flow, an intergenerational studio space, opened in 2021 and located in West Adams, that provides non-competitive global dance training (Cuban Salsa, House, West African, among others), wellness classes (yoga, pilates, sound baths), youth summer camps, and affordable rental space for artists. Because the issues of mental health and creative economy employment for underrepresented youth can be addressed in myriad ways, we feel particularly adept to do so with our multiple programs. We not only work directly with and impact L.A. youth but indirectly impact them through providing training for adults in non-profit organizations and in the dance industry who work or will work with L.A. youth.

CFP's vision is for our communities to be well, mentally and physically, and thriving, economically and in the arts. We directly serve those living in the Crenshaw District and South L.A. who have historically been BIPOC susceptible to gentrification and homelessness. While we know our limitations in addressing these larger issues, we understand our work to be preventative; we prepare the youth to enter the creative industry as proficient candidates (long-term) and, through dance as a wellness practice, they have tools available to manage their stress or anxiety (short-term). Although the focus is on youth, as an inclusive and intergenerational space, we promote wellness and a healthy work-life balance for adults in our community with our ongoing adult dance, yoga, pilates, and sound bath meditation classes (short-term with long-term impacts). CFP will bring on sustained vitality to L.A. County by building psychologically resilient communities and skilled creatives in the workforce.

We measure the impact of our work through both quantitative and qualitative means. Since the opening of PiYoDa Flow in 2021 and the initiation of the Culture Flow artist residency in 2022, our student enrollment, attendance, partnerships with local schools and audience participation have increased and expanded. Since the beginning of operations, our participants have reflected the demographics of West Adams District 10. (Latinos made up 56.2% of the population, with black people at 37.6%, white people 2.4%, Asian 1.7%, and other 2%). To better measure our impact, we will work to develop and conduct surveys which we hope we can do with more funding and staff resources. As additional evidence of our impact, parents of our enrolled dance students often choose to take yoga and pilates from us to work on their wellness. We have also been supporting an unhoused neurodivergent young African American woman in the last years by offering her free classes and other means of support.