Children tumbling around, blowing bubbles in the air and eating dozens of chocolates filled the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center for the city’s K.I.S.S. dance Sunday.
K.I.S.S, which stands for Kids Invite Someone Special, was originally the Daddy-Daughter Dance event hosted at the community center annually during Valentine’s Day season.
This year, the city broadened the audience to kids and parents of all genders, allowing them to bring “someone special.”
“We’re just evolving with the times, with the community. We didn’t want anyone to feel left out,” said Evanston Program Coordinator Marchelle Bonner.
The dance is open to kids of all ages and usually gets around 40 to 60 people in attendance from Evanston and nearby towns like Skokie and Wilmette, Bonner said. It was organized with the help of full-time staff and after school counselors at the community center.
The dance is a great way for kids to bond with their families, and for the people in the city to celebrate the community that they love, Bonner said.
DJ Glenn David, who has been DJing for similar city events for years, echoes this sentiment. Although he doesn’t have any children of his own, he says he adores interacting with them.
“I get to put smiles on faces for a living. It’s a blessing,” he said.
Six-year-old Kiing Clark from Chicago attended the dance for the first time. He said his favorite activity was decorating the red paper cut-out of the “Valentine’s heart,” which he plans to hang in his home.
Clark said he thinks Valentine’s Day is about “spreading love with everyone.”
His mother, Omega Clark, accompanied him to the dance and said she hoped he would enjoy the event and meet new people. They will be returning to the event next year, she said.
Other activities at the event included the cha-cha dance and chicken dance. David led these after huddling in a corner with the children and convincing them to bring their partners to the dance floor.
David also led a segment where the parents were told to imitate their children’s dance moves, leading to commotion all around the room as the children performed neat splits, somersaults and karate chops that the adults could barely keep up with.
Skokie resident Diana Serb said she was grateful to be able to accompany her son, 13-year-old Michael Serb, to the dance and looks forward to future events.
“The parents are coming out and taking an active role in their kid’s life — that’s the best part,” David said.
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