Teen Lives Matter

Teen lives matter. That’s the phrase on the Young Actors Guild (YAG)’s summer academy T-shirts. The electric blue tees with yellow lettering have become a standard part of the uniform for YAG members and supporters. It’s a timely phrase, given the ongoing conversations about Memphis’ youth, in which would-be critics on social media are quick to write young people off as troubled kids who lack ambition — victims of negative headlines and preconceived notions. 

That’s not how Chrysti Chandler sees them. The Memphis native and YAG founder sees them as the next generation of doctors, lawyers, and manifested dreams. Through her multicultural performing arts organization, she’s intentional about treating them as humans and meeting them where they are, and it’s with that goal in mind that Chandler and her team teach them dance, music, the performing arts, and other skills. Like any great arts educator, she ensures her performers are focused and meticulous when it comes to the foundations of their craft. That said, she’s perfectly fine with her dancers choreographing a majorette-style routine to the latest Megan Thee Stallion hit, only minutes after a ballet class taught by an Alvin Ailey alum.

Chandler, a theater arts teacher and professional dancer and choreographer, founded the nonprofit in 1991 after noticing how many children weren’t participating in after-school activities, often due to the expense. Feeling a responsibility to mentor them, she wanted to build an organization offering young people affordable performing arts experiences. And so YAG was born, aiming to “engage and inspire youth ages 3 to 17 in the arts.”

Accessibility is at the heart of YAG’s guiding vision, especially when it comes to location. Since founding the guild, Chandler was determined to procure a site where she could bring arts back into the community, and in 2019 the guild broke ground on the site of Fire Station 22, located at 2788 Lamar Avenue, rechristened as The Harriet Performing Arts Center (HPAC). Chandler and her team were able to purchase the space from the city for only a dollar. 

Today, after its grand re-opening in 2023, HPAC is hosting the guild’s 35th summer academy, which Chandler admits is a bit surreal. The first iteration of the summer academy took place in her backyard in South Memphis, where she had audiences from Orange Mound and Glenview witness shows orchestrated to tunes by The Jackson 5, Diana Ross, and The Temptations. “We would do dancing and singing in the backyard, and here it is today — we’re doing the same thing,” Chandler says. “That’s what I love to do.”

A lot has changed since Chandler opened her home to aspiring creatives, and YAG’s reach has extended far beyond her backyard. At this season’s camp, for example, Chandler smiles at student Jaylen Hunter as he collaborates and dances with his peers, fresh off the success of the Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, where he played young Marlon Jackson. The 16-year-old actor displays a humility and maturity typically exhibited by only the most experienced performers. But he radiates youthfulness as he chats about a Drake song and voting for Love Island contestants. A seemingly ordinary Memphis kid who’s made big moves — it’s mesmerizing.

And it’s illuminating to see YAG’s classes in action. The young performers are fully aware that these early experiences will play a role in bringing their future dreams to life. And such self-awareness also informs their knowledge that, as young people growing up in Memphis, negative portrayals of them in headlines and social media can set invisible boundaries. 

It may be easy for those outside the culture to judge Black youth based on generalizations and stereotypes. But a key idea at the center of YAG’s mission is that students with a hunger for success, eager to use their talents, with instructors passionate about training them, can outpace the perceptions.

And so we present to you the stories of four empowered Memphis teens leaving a mark on their hometown and the wider world around them.

Black Boy Joy

Dominick Barconia’s “big thing” is that he’s a violinist. The recent White Station High School graduate beams as he modestly lists off the accomplishments he’s garnered: being varsity captain of his baseball team, playing in the Memphis Youth Symphony Program, and interning with the PRIZM Ensemble. 

He says he grew up immersed in music, thanks to his grandfather, who was always listening to it. But while he knew he wanted music to be woven into his life, he didn’t know it could turn into a career. As he matured as a musician and a young adult, his perspective evolved, and he saw there were ways to incorporate his talent and love into a job. But he credits Chandler’s mentorship and his involvement in YAG with giving him the confidence to get there.

When Barconia first came to YAG as a 12-year-old, he was the only instrumentalist, but this didn’t present conflict for him, as he says the organization overflowed with acceptance.

“I always felt included, no matter what I was doing,” he says. “We really are just a big family. I have a brotherhood of boys here, and a sisterhood of girls here. It’s amazing to be able to call these people family.”

YAG has also impacted the way Barconia sees himself outside of music. “I always thought I could just play violin and that’s it,” Barconia explains. “But after coming to YAG, I started doing public speaking and writing, and that helps a lot. Because when you’re performing, you’re not just playing. A lot of the time you have to interact with your audience.” 

As we speak, he sits in front of a black-and-white portrait of himself playing the violin, hanging on the walls of HPAC. The image is part of a project called “Black Boy Joy,” where Barconia and other members of YAG’s first all-boy senior class were photographed individually. Barconia says it’s an honor to be one of the local, familiar faces of a movement that’s been integral to the way Black men experience happiness and life. “It shows that there are Black boys that are out here doing the right thing — that are getting out the right way,” Barconia says. “We’re doing the things in society that are deemed respectable. It feels good to be able to be a part of that.”

This fall, Barconia is headed to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to study violin performance, which he says is key to reaching the next level. Confident in the foundation that his upbringing and YAG have laid for him, he’s eager to unlock a new world of studying and training.

The Next Skywalker

King Henry (that’s his name, not his title — so far) wants to play Spiderman. It’s his instant response when asked about his dream role. But he wouldn’t be upset with being cast in the Star Wars franchise. “I really like Star Wars,” Henry says. “If I could see myself holding a lightsaber, being with Jedi, or shooting the stormtroopers, I might just cry.” Henry knows that to land one of these roles he’ll have to be both disciplined and brave. Luckily, he’s had experience flexing these muscles.

Now 14, he was only 12 when cast as Sam Bell, Elvis Presley’s childhood best friend, in Elvis Evolution, an “immersive experience” produced by Layered Reality that opened in London last May, combining multimedia and live performers in a theatrical journey through Presley’s life story. Henry admits he never saw himself performing onstage in London at his age. “I never thought I’d be able to do this until I was way out of college,” Henry says. “I really wanted to be an actor, but I didn’t know I was going to be chosen for [that] part. That’s not something I had in mind.”

Henry joins a long line of YAG students who have showcased their chops worldwide, from YAG itself performing for former President Bill Clinton to YAG alumni appearing at the Apollo Theater and on American Idol. The guild’s pedigree helped make Henry’s dreams more attainable, he says. And being surrounded by other Black artists and entertainers while attending workshops helped him grow. 

“Not only do we do performing arts here, we also show the real world who we are as young African Americans,” Henry says. “[Being at YAG] made me understand my history, and it made me proud to be who I am. That’s one of the things YAG does really well, and that’s why I love it.” 

Indeed, Black history is an integral part of YAG’s curriculum. While Chandler’s stage has changed since her backyard beginnings, she continues to pay homage to Black artists as a way to put her Black performers in touch with their roots. “They paved the way for us,” Chandler says. “They paved the way for the Young Dolphs and GloRillas. The roots never die.”

Henry, for his part, is fully aware of what it means to be a young Black man from Memphis. While the generations of talent from the city can be overshadowed by negative national headlines, he hopes he and his fellow performers can contribute to a shift in this perception. And as he reflects on landing a professional role, he salutes his parents, Chandler, and YAG executive director Sabrina Norwood as key players in pulling out his potential. “[At YAG], they teach everybody how to be respectable young people and to really be ourselves,” Henry says. “We gotta get out of our comfort zone. I didn’t know what I could do when I first got here.”

He views his growth as an actor holistically. As he has strengthened his dramatic skills, he’s also experienced changes in his attitude and his perspective on being a performer. “When I first got here, I was arrogant,” he says candidly. “I didn’t like to be told what to do [and] I couldn’t take constructive criticism. Once [I’d been here] for a year or two, I was a way better kid.”

He promises to wield these traits as his career continues to flourish.

At the Ballet

Morgan Cunningham’s first introduction to YAG solidified her desire to be a dancer. Its company dancers were the best of the best, she recalls. “I would see them en pointe, doing hip-hop and all the fun dances, and I was like, ‘I want to be a company dancer,’” Cunningham says.

And seeing Black dancers lined up with slicked-back and middle-part buns was eye-opening for the now-19-year-old Howard University student. When dancing on her high school’s predominantly white dance team, opportunities to see and train with performers who looked like her were rare. But while the expectations set forth by the majority-white culture there were daunting, YAG Saturdays became something to look forward to.\

Chandler says it’s important that her dancers know they could be ballerinas one day. She has always championed inclusivity, and an evolving idea of what a ballerina looks like — regardless of hair, body shape, size, or skin color. It’s one of the reasons Chandler incorporated ballet into her curriculum. She noticed an inequity when several aspiring dancers were denied enrollment in other ballet companies because they didn’t fit the mold of a “traditional ballerina.”

“Ballet is not just for the Caucasian girl,” Chandler says. “Ballet is an art, so it’s not based on size. We let the girls be who they are, [because] we can’t help the way we’re made up.”

Now, as a returning alum and camp counselor, Cunningham is honored to have the role she has, influencing young girls in the same way she was influenced — by contributing to broader representations of dancers. Meanwhile, as Cunningham recounts these memories, seemingly on cue, a camper yells out to her: “Beyoncé!” Though it could be a reference to her voluminous blonde hair, Cunningham says it’s a call back to when she paid homage to the singer’s iconic Super Bowl halftime performance with a dance of her own.

“They always mention it,” Cunningham says. “It’s really sweet, honestly, to have people look up to you in that way. I always try to perform to the best of my ability, because they’re always watching. I know that’s a goal for them, like it was for me.”

We Are the Champions

Trey Hansbrough’s favorite band of all time is Queen. His entry point into the band’s discography was hearing “Killer Queen” in a Netflix movie. He was instantly hooked, and shocked to later learn that the same band was behind hits like “Another One Bites the Dust” and “We Are the Champions,” which he’d heard growing up. 

The latter song — Freddie Mercury’s ode to overcoming adversity, ending with victorious applause — matches Hansbrough’s retrospective view of his own life. Now an incoming Mississippi State University freshman, Hansbrough’s earliest YAG memories are of playing his Nintendo 3DS backstage, age 10, during his older sister’s dance performances. He was later pulled into the fold when his mother approached Chandler for extra help with an Easter speech, and once he’d joined YAG himself, his mother noticed an immediate change in him. As he readies for college, he attributes his confidence and independence to Chandler and the arts organization.

He’s come a long way from being that shy little boy in his big sister’s footsteps. While he’s learned tangible skills like public speaking, the arts also exposed a vulnerability in him — one that he has been able to express through spoken word performances. “It really has helped me become more open, or else I’d still be attached at my sister’s hip right now,” Hansbrough says. “That’s really what’s made me stay here all these years.”

Hansbrough, like Barconia, was a part of the first all-boy senior class at YAG. That being one of his own contributions to history, Hansbrough hopes it helps inspire future generations of Black boys at the guild. He’s leaving his “Black Boy Joy” portrait hanging in the building as a reminder that it can be done — and that he has done it. Success is within reach.

“At their age I had no idea, but they have all the time in the world to figure it out,” Hansbrough says. “If I can give them the wisdom and the teaching, then that means everything to me — instilling it in the next generation. My time’s still now, but their time is coming, and they need to be well-prepared for that. I’m here to help with that.”

Hansbrough’s current role as a camp counselor is holistic. He knows that he’s there to protect them, but realizes that protection includes both their physical and mental health. For him, “Teen Lives Matter” isn’t just a phrase, it’s a statement meant to be taken literally. “When I’m wearing this shirt, you know this is a safe space,” Hansbrough says. “My job is to interact with the children but also protect them.” And, in his view, the work he’s doing now is pivotal to changing not only how the world sees teens in Memphis, but how those teens see themselves.

Chandler emphasizes that YAG’s mission is collaborative with the students themselves, and even while she encourages her performers to challenge the narratives surrounding their generation, she’s firmly committed to not erasing their unique identities. She isn’t looking to shape her performers into whatever the mainstream deems acceptable; rather she champions each teen’s story through theatricality, performing arts, and celebrations of Black culture.

It’s in that combination of social awareness and individual identity that Chandler places her hopes for the future. While she knows there’s no shortage of talented children and teenagers in the city, she asks the community to be more open to giving them opportunities while also meeting them where they are. “[I hope Memphis] continues to let African American children enter doors and give them a chance, homing in on their natural talents,” Chandler says. “I hope whoever takes my place, whoever walks in my shoes, will allow them to come in and unlock their creativity.”