Youth Dance Workshops by Diane Findlay and Bonnie Tozer, with help from Kim Byungsuk Siegling

submitted January 2024

In the 1970s Oscar DuGruy, a Baha’i in Los Angeles, responded to a need he saw to reach out to youth struggling with racism, drug abuse and violence by starting the first Baha’i Youth Workshop. The diverse group, made up of young Baha’is and their friends, presented examples and messages of unity, equality, and other positive spiritual and social principles through dance, music, and drama. The concept took off and by the late 1990s there were as many as two hundred such groups worldwide, operating in at least fifty countries. They started with a few standard choreographed hip-hop or step routines and developed additional pieces appropriate to their situations and cultures. One such group performed at a major United Nations conference and many others offered programs at local schools, conferences, and youth gatherings. *

Iowa Baha’i youth were involved with two such groups. One was the Rockford, Illinois group mentioned below. The other, “United as One,” started as an individual initiative in 1999 by Tom Walton, to gather youth in the Waterloo area who had never seen a workshop, were not from Baha’i families, and had very little dance background. Among them were Jaquinn, Ashely, and Sam Stokes; Kendall Crawford; Nicholas ?; and one other young man from Waterloo. They were joined by Baha’i youth Kim Byungsuk Siegling of Cedar Rapids, and Brianna, Renado, and Tammy Tozer of Cedar Falls. One of Tom’s granddaughters visited and joined for a short time and Jaquinn and Ashley brought a family relative several times.

Kim Byungsuk Siegling shared some memories of his experiences with the workshops. He met Nathan ? at a Green Lake Conference when he was fourteen, in 1996. Nathan was active with the Baha’i Youth Workshop in Rockford, Illinois. Kim began traveling on the weekends to be part of that group and worked with them for three years. When Kim was seventeen, in the summer of 1999, Tom Walton formed “United as One.” The Rockford, Illinois group helped and supported the new workshop as it developed, including coming to Waterloo to teach the Iowa youth a particular dance routine.

The group had weekly meetings and practices, held at Heartland Vineyard Church and later the Cedar Valley Unitarian Universalists Church. The group took its title from a song, “United as One,” which was choreographed to express the concept of the unity of religions. Kim recalls the group was, as the title suggests, united and treated each other equally. Everyone got along “quite nicely.” After rehearsals, they would go out to eat together. Tom picked up the tab. When Kim’s dad Jim Siegling tried to chip in, Tom would “shut him down with a handshake and a smile!”

Kim remembers performing at a Swamp Fox Festival in Marion, Iowa, where they were part of the parade. The group also performed for several Waterloo Churches, at the South Tama High School for Race Unity Day, and for Juneteenth Celebration in Waterloo. Tom Walton’s nephew Don Sires commented that, despite caution about religion-based organizations’ presence in public schools, the group was invited into Waterloo schools and their performances received enthusiastically. The group actively worked with the NAACP in Waterloo on clean-up projects where graffiti had been sprayed on garages.

United as One was asked to visit an Illinois community and was hosted by Baha’is in Lombard, Illinois, where they performed at a local school. They took the opportunity to visit the Chicago Baha’i Center and the North American Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. They were also asked to perform at the Iowa Baha’i Winter School in Newton, Iowa, perhaps in 2000.

Another memory Kim shared is of the Chicago Youth Workshop stopping by. He says they were the best dancers! It was a large group and very diverse.

Pictures below show a T-shirt created for the group and a shot from the Swamp Fox Festival in Marion, Iowa. Top left is Tom Walton, far right is Jim Siegling.