On Sept. 17, the TransCanada Theatre was filled with a symphony of colours and sounds that were celebration enough for any spectator filling a seat. But the celebration goes far beyond the dazzling one-night showing of Danzas FolklÛrico Manzanillo's Origins.
A good number of the young folk dancers on stage are residents of a charitable children's home ñ an orphanage ñ in Manzanillo, on the southwest coast of Mexico.
The home houses, feeds and cares for some of the city's most desperate kids. But more importantly, it sets them on the right path, breaking a cycle of poverty that plagues generations.
And it does so through dancing.
Mark Wright has been going to Manzanillo, Mexico for almost 15 years. He says he got involved with the Casa Hogar Los Angelitos children's home by attrition.
"Sort of gradually, over time," he said. "Every year (the home) had a big fundraiser. And it's the biggest social event of the year ñ so everybody would go."
But it was a much more personal circumstance that firmed up his involvement in the Casa Hogar community.
Wright hired a local maid to work at his condominium project in Manzanillo. It turned out that 29-year-old single mother was a newcomer to the city, trying to care for six children on her slim wages, which weren't even enough for housing.
"When we found out the kids weren't doing well, we did what anybody would do," said Wright. "We started helping them."
Over time, the Wrights arranged to move the kids off the streets and into Casa Hogar.
"It wasn't that they didn't have a mother," he said. "They couldn't live."
Five years later, here in Olds, four of those kids graced not only the stage of the theatre, but also the Wrights' dinner table and guest room for the weekend, as they billeted the siblings who have become like their own.
"Four of them are here -- and staying at our house!" he said. "I mean that is just unbelievable. We can hardly go to bed at night. It's so much fun. We played last night until after midnight. It's just like a dream."
Casa Hogar, which is run by a group called The Children's Foundation out of Colorado, does more than just feed and house the kids who come under their care.
It is also home to a traditional Mexican folk dancing program that has become so successful they have begun to make international stops, like the one in Olds. Wright says everybody in the home dances.
"The big kids are up there getting ready for a performance, the little kids are copying. They never have to teach them," he said. "Their idols are the big kids. That's really how they get in it."
To be part of the dance program, the kids must go to school, get good grades, come to all the practices and stay clean.
But what they gain is worth the effort.
"They'll get a standing ovation at the end -- people will be crying," said Wright. "And those kids, some of them have never had that experience. They've never had anything going for them in their lives and here they are, and they look up and they see all these people."
But more important than applause, the program is helping to break the cycle of poverty.
"It changes their life forever. They'll never be the same," he said. "In a whole big, long line of people in a family, if you get one person who becomes successful like this, it changes the whole family."
"It changes for the future. These kids have an opportunity to be valuable citizens of their country," he added. "And to truly give back to humanity. It's about all of us."
And that's what the celebration was ñ it wasn't just a charity fundraiser for a group of underprivileged kids.
Rita Thompson happily housed four of the performers over the weekend. From family dinners to packing them bag lunches to shuttling them around, she says she benefits as much as her guests.
"What do I get out of it?" she said. "Seeing it through their eyes, right?"
Thompson said playing host makes you look at things around you differently, from the food you eat to your own backyard.
"They don't get leaves much," she laughed, "so they thought that was great fun to rake up leaves and just throw them up."
Thompson hadn't seen the girls rehearse or perform, and getting to see them on stage is a different experience because she knows them.
"They've been at our house ñ they've been blowing their hair dry and taking pictures and sitting around and visiting," she said. "So now it's very personable."
"They kind of find their way in here, right?" said Thompson, touching her heart.
Wright says he's better off for having stumbled into the Casa Hogar community.
"Some people say, why this charity?" he said. "It was put in front of us and you accept it. To me it was a golden opportunity."
"It was one of the best things that ever happened for us. It's enrichened our lives, we feel, more than the kids."
"We've had so much joy from them," he said. "We have these four staying in our home now. I never imagined in my lifetime that would happen."
"It's just too good to be true."
Except it is true.
MORE: Find out more about The Children's Foundation and Casa Hogar Los Angelitos at www.childrensfoundationinc.com.
