NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Dance Therapy Helps Homeless Kids Feel Better

Dance therapy usually brings to mind dim lights and fluid movements.

The image couldn’t be further from the bright dining room where Laurie Liles teaches--with stacked chairs and tables pushed to the walls, 25 shrieking children jumping up and down not nearly in sync, and the song “I Got a New Attitude” blaring from a tune box.

This dance therapy class, for homeless children living at the Trudy and Norman Louis Valley Shelter on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, has the same therapeutic purpose as dance therapy for adults, but with movements and music aimed at children aged 5 to 12.

Liles, 48, combines stretching and warm-ups with jumping, clapping and simply choreographed moves. She has been teaching as a volunteer at the shelter twice a month since March, 1992, and is trying to obtain a grant to pay for supplies and assistants for the class.

“Homeless children are the least empowered population on the face of the Earth,” Liles said. “The goal is to empower them, to give them a voice. The dance gives them a platform to create and invest their emotions.”

While some children had trouble paying attention during the hourlong class--5-year-old Joel said he’d rather be playing with his Ninja Turtles--the others seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“It’s way more fun than school,” Vanessa, 6, said. “We don’t get to jump around in school.”

Liles, who lives in North Hollywood, became interested in dance therapy while she was working with recovering drug addicts in New Jersey more than 10 years ago. In 1987, she became a dance therapy instructor at Mount St. Mary’s College, and now works as an executive secretary at Bullocks.

The class is one of several children’s activities at the shelter, including art classes, storytelling and Girl Scouts.

Program coordinator Martha Lomeli said the activities help the 80 or so children who live at the shelter feel good about themselves.

“Being with the other children helps them not to feel they are the only ones who are homeless,” Lomeli said.