Youth violence is on the rise today as we see Chicago making national and international headlines with the recent killings of public school students. Cicero is not exempt and in fact, has had a rash of violence plague the community. Corazón Community Services is going to respond to this rash of violence and to what seems like an attack on our young people, an attack on our future.
 
Corazón Community Services will stage an hour-long production that will incorporate music, video, dance and spoken word to depict the various forms of violence that our young people face everyday. It is a youth response to violence that engages everyone to think about the damage caused by violence and what each individual can do to not be a victim and/or a perpetrator.
 
This is a first of its kind production for Corazón Community Services and for Cicero. It will feature an all youth cast of dancers, actors, spoken word artists, stage crew and more. Corazón Community Services will be providing the artistic direction and oversight of the production. The local school districts, community based organizations and businesses will be a part of this production including the local government as well.
 
The production opens with spoken word relating to the violence young people face today. The stage opens up with Just Wanna Be Loved a song that speaks to the need for an individual to be as they are, accepted for who they are and loved for who they are. Typical of the high school experience where fitting in is everything this portrays the ideal dream of all young people.  Next, a couple tango to Solo Por Tu Amor, a love song which soon turns violent, forever changing the meaning of the song. We are taken directly into the face of gender identity, homophobia and violence against an already marginalized population of young people in Mirage. Move forward to the initiation of young men into the gang and witness through dance and sound the daily reality of youth. As Ave Maria plays in the background we see the loss of two young lives – that of the victim and the perpetrator through a balanced act of choreography, staging, light and sound. While this production has presented a series of scenes depicting violence, Follow Me brings us back to our plight, to our right and to our charge to follow me to a place where we can all be free.
 
Dance, choreography, lighting, video, sound and acting create this response to violence as experienced by youth.

CALENDAR OF PERFORMANCE DATES
April 16th and 17th: [Cicero,IL] Morton East Auditorium, 7pm
May 1st : [Chicago, IL] Safety Net Works Youth Town Hall Meeting at Illinois Institute of Technology, 2:45pm
May 14th: [Cicero,IL] Unity Jr. High, 7pm *Performance Cancelled*
May 24th: [Chicago,IL] Brighton park Neighborhood Council Youth Town Hall Meeting at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), 12pm
June 18th: [Cicero,IL] Cease Fire Week, Cicero Community Center