Latest news with #EmersonSchoolforVisualandPerformingArts
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meet the Gary Playwright Helping Youth Find Their Voice Through Theater
From a young age, Charbria Shine knew the stage would be part of her life, even if it meant starting as a mascot and finishing as a playwright. A cheer mascot in kindergarten, she went on to dance at church and landed the lead role in a play on her first try. Her place in the entertainment world seemed predestined, even before she understood what that meant. Shine attended Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts in middle school, but ultimately graduated from Andrean High School in Merrillville. While not an art school, she found outlets for creativity through art fairs, the dance team, and school musicals. 'I fell in love, and I love dance, but I wanted to do it all like most people,' she joked. Now a playwright and performer, Shine is carving out space for creativity in Gary, years after the closure of Emerson left a void for arts-minded youth. Through her original stage productions, Shine is helping a new generation find their voice — just as she once found hers. After college, Shine focused on the business world, specifically the retail industry. But the arts never left her. She moved back home for a while, where she began performing in musicals locally at the now-closed Star Plaza Theatre and the West Side Theater Guild. After getting married and moving away again, she found herself out of work and seeking to rediscover her life's purpose. And only one thing clicked: acting. 'I started creating my stories because there weren't a lot of stories that I saw myself in and stories that I wanted to tell, but I had a lot to say,' she said. 'Having a deep love for writing, it made sense just to start writing.' Drawing on her own experiences — being 'single and unsatisfied' but not a 'damsel in distress or settling for less' — she built a community through YouTube Monologues, blogs, and eventually her stage play The Single Woman Chronicles. Originally slated to premiere in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic halted all plans for a few years. In 2021, she was able to premiere the show at a local church, and has taken off since. She has created several other stage plays, including The Ladies' Lounge, The Little Black Dress, Dr. Love, and is also the author of Self-Love, a book that promotes empowerment, particularly for women, through messages of healing, confidence, and purpose. The Gary native has staged her work at venues across the city, including West Side's theater, the Gary Public Library Arts theater, and local churches. But being on the stage at West Side hit her a little harder. 'It was such a surreal moment because I grew up dancing on that stage, and then as a young adult, I worked there at the Guild, and I was a choreographer, actor, and dancer,' she said.'It's so much history; just going to Emerson and then being a part of West Side as a kid, and the arts were just so thriving when I was there. To be able to come back and, in a sense, have that full moment of coming back to where I started, it felt amazing.' She remembers her time at Emerson as a pivotal point in her artistic journey, where the training shaped her into a well-rounded person — something she hopes to pass on to the next generation. 'I think it starts with people that are in power to actually see the value in it, because if they don't see the power, then they aren't going to fight for it,' she said in regard to many of the arts programs getting cut in schools, which could help students. 'Everyone is not a sports kid, so allow them to have different options so they can be exposed to everything.' Shine often makes her productions a family-and-friends affair, including people she knows share her vision and goals. Deniel Walker is one of Shine's childhood friends and an early witness to her creative growth. They met in elementary school and attended Emerson together, becoming fast friends. Walker originally joined Shine at Emerson, but had to transfer out due to moving away. However, the ladies were able to reconnect in their adult years, as if no time had passed. A supporter of her friend, Walker would always pop out to any event that Shine was hosting to show her support in any way. It was then that she was tapped to be in Shine's show, The Ladies Lounge. While she was nervous about stepping out of her comfort zone, she knew this would be a fantastic opportunity for her. 'She brought out the best in me that I didn't even know was there,' Walker said. Similar to Shine and others in the community, she remembers the days and the impact that Emerson had on young kids in the community. 'I wish it were still around,' she said with a heavy heart. 'Emerson gave options for students to have a voice in whatever capacity or way they feel comfortable.' With many students feeling comfortable in the arts, the school created an environment that allowed youth to have an outlet for self-expression and find their voice. And according to Walker, what Shine is doing is beneficial for the local youth who may feel inclined to do something similar but lack the knowledge on how to do so. 'Sometimes when you don't see someone of your own color doing something, you feel like you can't do it,' she said regarding Shine putting her art out there. 'I think for young girls or young women to see someone doing such a thing makes it okay.' Like Walker, Shine enjoys having people in her stage plays that the audience can connect Henderson is no exception. 'What Charbria is doing and what she's bringing to the community is not only entertaining but transformative,' Henderson said. She believes Shine's productions can open the eyes of new generations to the possibilities of entertainment they can create and the potential for it to become big. Now, with her stage play Dr. Love returning to the community in the fall, Shine hopes that as she continues her work, whether in film, improv, or further involvement in the community, she will inspire what the next generation of arts kids from Gary looks like. 'I'm definitely going to do something with the youth,' she said. Like many others, she hopes something close to what they had growing up can reappear in the community. 'They're our future, and I have the heart to do something with them.' The post Meet the Gary Playwright Helping Youth Find Their Voice Through Theater appeared first on Capital B Gary.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
She Styled Beyoncé's Tour. Now She Wants to Rebuild the Arts in Gary
When Sankara McCain walked across the stage to graduate from Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts, she didn't know where her arts journey would take her. Never did she think it would lead to her working with everyone from Phylicia Rashad to Saweetie to Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter for the 'Cowboy Carter' tour. 'I've probably touched every female rapper,' she said. Through her brand Sankara Xasha Turé — or Sankara XT, as she's known in the industry — she's an international wardrobe stylist with an eye for color and fashion. Her fashion journey started when her parents sent her to Emerson for school instead of those in her neighborhood. From the moment that they brought up the idea, she was against it. 'I did not want to go to Emerson. I thought my parents were the worst parents on the planet,' she joked. Like any other child in her position, she just wanted to be around her friends. From the point of view of her father, Todd McCain, sending her to Emerson made perfect sense. Seeing the creativity in her from a young age, he said he always taught the lesson: 'The best nation in the world is the imagination.' 'I've taught Sankara and her two brothers that the worth of any human being is how they make others better, and in her small, humble way, she's making others better through her styling and creations of fashion,' he said. Wanting to go against the grain, she purposely failed her auditions for the school, hoping that it would force her parents to send her to another school. Once her parents found out, they went to school stating that they didn't care what she majored in, but that she had to attend. 'In Africa, they say a mother or father can see more laying on their back than the children can see in the tallest of trees,' Todd said, giggling at memories of his daughter not wanting to attend the school. 'She thought she knew what she wanted to do, but being her father and senior, she didn't see what I saw.' Band was the only major she didn't have to audition for, so her parents enrolled her in that program. Realizing that she had no choice, and even being upset with her parents about the forced choice, which she voiced daily, she decided to switch her major to dance. 'I would tell my parents that I hated them every day that summer, but it ended up being the most beautiful time of my life,' Sankara said, feeling remorseful about how she treated them. 'I'm so happy that I was forced to go there.' It was at Emerson that she started to define herself. Under the direction of Larry Brewer, Emerson's dance instructor, students learned they could succeed and pursue opportunities beyond Gary. By age 14, she and a few friends traveled every day to Chicago to train with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. There, they'd train late into the night, sometimes not getting home until 1 a.m. But their dedication created a level of discipline and excellent dance skills. They were so good that another dance company had to be made. But while dancing was her passion, she worried more about what she wore on stage. She refused to 'go out there looking crazy,' she said. Emerson did not offer a fashion program, and she had no idea she could turn styling into a career — until she went to college.A third-generation college student, going anywhere other than an HBCU was not an option. 'One thing you're not going to get at Harvard that you're going to get at Howard is culture,' her father said. He attended Southern University, her uncle attended Florida A&M University, and her grandmother attended Tennessee State. 'Culture to people is what water is to a fish.' It was at Howard where Sankara became who she is today. Knowing that the school would open the doors she needed, it was easy for her to choose it. Even now, that community with Howard is among some of her clientele because of the community they built. Sankara began at Howard as a dance major but switched to fashion in her sophomore year, where she met costume designer Reggie Ray. Seeing her potential, he took her under his wing and created a work-study program for her. Ray, a Broadway costume designer, took McCain to New York each week to train under his guidance. On a show starring actor Mekhi Phifer and actress Condola Rashad, McCain styled Condola and impressed her so much that Condola introduced her to her mother, Phylicia Rashad, best known for playing Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show. McCain began styling Phylicia, and her career took off. Determined to pursue her dreams full time, she quit school in her junior year to move to New York. Her first assignment was as an assistant to Jerod McClairn, then-stylist for Nicki Minaj. Afterward, she kept growing and taking on her own clients. Her first clients were cast members from the popular reality TV shows Love & Hip Hop and Black Ink Crew. She joined Instagram at its inception, and her portfolio quickly gained new followers. However, she still felt the need to finish what she started at Howard. So, she returned to D.C., where she finished her last two semesters while she was pregnant. After living overseas, where she started to build her portfolio, she moved back to D.C. to further her career. She ended up meeting Kevin Durant's mother at a grocery store, and started styling her. According to Sankara, styling normal-sized women started ringing bells in the small D.C. fashion community. People would come to Washington and explicitly ask Sankara to style them. Another major breakthrough came when Saweetie's team reached out to hire her to style the rapper for the Summer Jam festival in New 2019, she traveled to Los Angeles for the BET Awards and a few styling gigs. Three weeks later, Saweetie's team tapped her to style the rapper on her debut tour, and she's been in LA ever since. 'Every artist is absolutely different,' Sankara said. 'So every time I'm designing for them, I have to become them and step into their brains.' Now, years into the fashion game, she's worked with everyone from Ice Cube to rapper Latto to singer Ciara. She's also styled for videos, movies, and tours for several different artists. Her most recent work includes designing a cowboy-inspired gold leather, metallic outfit with a matching cowboy belt and hat for Blue Ivy. An assignment that came from her agent, and working with a former stylist of Beyonce, who saw the impact that her work has had as a black designer. 'I feel like Gary is just such a big part of my journey,' she said. 'I feel like being a rose from concrete, that we have always had the blueprint and what can come from hard work.' And throughout every part of this journey, Sankara still holds Gary in a special place in her heart. 'I hope I am an inspiration for the city,' she said. 'Gary is seen in such a dark light all the time, but it shows that we are going to be OK. There is so much hope for the city that does not get highlighted as often.' Sankara credits her ambition to her father's uplifting attitude, which pushed her to rise above an environment she later realized was more challenging than she first understood. 'She has turned a negative into a positive,' Todd said, reflecting on the negative stigma around Gary for over half a decade. 'When you make something out of nothing, when you can turn lemons into lemonade franchises or even when life gives you BS, you learn how to make fertilizer out of it.' Like her father, Sankara hopes to show Gary's kids that they can do precisely what she is doing if they have someone to push them. With Emerson being gone, she recognizes that many students don't get the experience that she did growing up. She spent time in her grandmother's hair shop, which helped her understand how things should look. She watched her father model or her other grandma unofficially style him for shoots while spending the rest of the time shopping for outfits. As a child, she hated it, but now, as an adult, she realizes how exposed she was to the arts. And that's something she wants for the city's youth: to bring the arts back. 'That is my life goal: I want to come back to Gary and rebuild Emerson, but this time it would be a state-of-the-art school where students will be learning how to produce music, learning fashion, to sketch, use AI, etc.,' she said, reflecting on how if she went with what she wanted to do as a child, she wouldn't be where she is today. The post She Styled Beyoncé's Tour. Now She Wants to Rebuild the Arts in Gary appeared first on Capital B Gary.
