Saturday, April 28, 2007
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HE QUINCEANERA BALL COULD BE the ultimate Youngstown experience. Chaney High School, which has been undergoing its own renovation, was the scene Friday for the ball.
The ball has its roots in the customs of the Aztec Indians circa 500 B.C., when girls, about age 15, left their homes to become wives and mothers.
The ceremony has been revived as a Latino event celebrating a young woman's spirituality and purity and change from a youth to a woman.
Before the ceremony, Shanay Jacobs, who was selected as the Quinceanera, was waiting out of sight in a classroom. She was wearing a floor-length gown and gloves that almost reached her shoulders.
"I'm cool, calm, and collected," Shanay said.
The Chaney sophomore, who attends Triedstone Missionary Baptist Church, said the closest she had come to being that dressed up before was at a prom.
She practiced a few dance steps with a dapper and deft dancer, Jerome Harrell, to make sure neither would trip on the hem of her dress. Harrell said he had been asked to serve as a surrogate father during the service by Lucy Nieves, Chaney's Spanish teacher and its Spanish club adviser.
Belinda Ser was asked to serve as the other ceremonial parent, and even auditioned. Her role was to read a poem during the ceremony.
"But one thing that I have done and will continue to do forever," Ser said, "is to be very proud of you, and to appreciate, support and love you, and to be here for you, whenever you need me, my beautiful child."
What took place
Eventually, Shanay and her court came out as did the many young girls and young men. It was noted that there were noticeably fewer boys, so some girls danced together, a common occurrence in Hispanic culture.
One of the very young children taking part in the ceremony was Cassandra Arcenio, whose father, Victor, is a teacher from Peru.
"I think its good to promote Hispanic culture in the community," Victor Arcenio said.
He noted that when he came to America and went to parties, he wondered why there was no dancing or music.
During the ceremony, Shanay's shoes were replaced as a sigh of purity. She danced with Harrell, during which it was announced she is now formally a woman.
All the students in the courts then danced a waltz. Matthew Ribera, also a Chaney student and vice president of the Spanish club, was paired with Shanay. They and the other students didn't miss a step.
Matthew said the students had practiced the dance to get it just right.
"It was not an easy thing," he admitted.
Not that she showed it, but Shanay said she was finally over all of her nervousness.
At the end of the ceremony, most of the several hundred people attending -- young, adult and old -- piled onto the dance floor.
Nieves said she hopes to have the program again next year.
Chaney Principal Robert Spencer said, "The best thing we have are values. Our warm, rich traditions are cornerstones."
Youngstown is a melting pot of all cultures, the principal added, and the program, "brings it all together."
wilkinson@vindy.com