THEY may be young, but these dancers have what it takes to be adjudged one of the best upcoming dance groups in the mining town of Linden. Their slick moves, crisp wardrobe and well-choreographed dances, have given the seven young men who formed themselves into a dance group called Young Successful/Savage Life (YSL), the attention they deserve to be booked as dancers for private events. The members of YSL are Tyrone Newark, Anthonio Samuels, Colin Truthe, Orwin Henry, Walleed Webster, Emmanuel Dover and Malachi Todd. These young dancers believe that this is just a start to the realisation of their dreams of big stage lights and hotel nights.

The youths, who are between the ages of 13 and 15, all attend the New Silver City Secondary School in Linden and reside in communities across the Wismar shore. Little did they know that their afternoons of trial and error with various genres of music would land them the three-time champions of the Children’s Mashramani Schools Championship. In relating how they were formed, group member Tyrone related, “One bright sunny day while sitting on an old car tire in Half Mile Linden, chatting with a friend, Anthonio, I shared the idea of forming a dance group. It seemed like a joke at first to us but we decided to try it and we did and we ended up performing at the Region 10 costume competition. There, we got first and then is when we started to take things seriously,” he related. “YSL actually has a double meaning, “’Young Savage’ Life does not have its genesis in delinquency but represents fierceness, fearlessness and an unintimidating way of dancing which drives us to be successful hence living the Young Successful Life.”

Dancing an expression of art
For these youngsters, dancing is more than the gyrating of their bodies to capture the attention of the crowd. It is the expression of every phenomenon around them; channelling negative vibes into positive energy; it is an expression of art. “When I listen to music, the beat gives me a bounce especially African and soca beats- the literary devices, the rhymes, the poetry, the storytelling. All this we hear in the lyrics and are encouraged to dance every time we hear good music, especially hip-hop,” the dancers related.

The young dancers emulate the likes of Young Thug, Meek Mill and Chris Brown and are optimistic that with continued push and determination, they can be big in the entertainment industry one day. With a very good support system made up of families and friends they are balancing this extra-curricular activity with academics as being academically inclined remains their number one priority. The group’s advice to other young people is, “Stop following people, be yourself, follow your dreams and whatever it is that you are passionate about.”