NORFOLK, Va. — February is Black History Month and there's one Norfolk native who's making a mark through his art in our hometown.
At the Norfolk Academy, there’s a hidden gem in the community.
Elbert Watson is on a mission to help people in Hampton Roads live healthier and he’s doing it through dance.
To Watson, anybody can benefit from the arts. For about 12 hours a day, he helps adults and kids and his classes soon grew in number.
“You know, you can use it for football or wellness,” said Watson. “I like taking dance and doing something totally new with it, making it accessible to people.”
He said his fourth-grade boys’ class really caught onto the sport. In fact, his class grew from one to about 21 students.
Students told me “It’s awesome.”
Little do these students know this Norfolk native is part of the legacy in the dance world.
He worked and toured with Alvin Ailey, who is known as an African-American choreographer who revolutionized and diversified modern dance.
Watson recalled his time with Ailey as “the most incredible experience... the best company in the world. You were working at peak level, like a professional athlete traveling.”
Ailey’s work is so well known, President Barak Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom after he died.
Now Watson is carrying on the art of dance to the next generation and leaving his legacy of a healthier community in his home town.
“I actually came back to Norfolk, really to vacation, but what’s interesting is how life throws you a curve,” said Watson. “Suddenly just performing wasn’t all I liked. I liked teaching children and getting kids in who maybe had low self-esteem and suddenly they had something just like this sparkle happen.”