Dancing through adversity

As an athletic incoming freshman at Southeast Missouri State University, Micheal Curry had hopes of becoming a football star. But a medical diagnosis sidelined those dreams and set him on a different path.

Curry sought treatment from a chiropractor for five years. Last summer, his health worsened. "I was getting pain, and the left side of my body was going numb," he says. "And so I couldn't really feel anything."

Curry was told he needed an MRI, and it was possible he had multiple sclerosis. A specialist in St. Louis confirmed that diagnosis.

When he arrived at Southeast -- he was born in Mississippi, lived in Tennessee for a year, then moved to Kentucky, where he attended high school -- he was still interested in pursuing football. But, he says, the team wasn't sure it wanted him. He was told he needed a doctor's note saying he was OK to play, and he'd have to fill out a liability form.

"After leaving me hanging for about four months, they said, 'No, you can't be on the team, but you can still come to practice,'" Curry says. "I didn't hold anything against them. I understood the liability thing."

After that, Curry says, he was in a deep depression.

Following the advice of a dance teacher at the River Campus, Curry attended a ballet class the next semester -- "tried it out, and I loved it," he says. Learning the history of dance solidified where he wanted to be in life: a dancer.

"It was kind of like my way of relieving stress," he says. "And that really turned into the thing I did every day, other than football. When I wasn't doing anything, I'd be dancing."

Curry trained for football but slowed down after realizing dance and music relieved his depression.

As a sophomore, in 2014, he met another hip-hop dancer at the River Campus and they created Fingerprint, a dance club at Southeast.

"It was a good atmosphere and that's what created Fingerprint," Curry said.

Curry, now a 23-year-old senior with his MS relapsing-remitting, describes Fingerprint as "being your original self" -- being influenced by what's inside you instead of what's around you. Forming the group, he reached out to whomever he could because there are a lot of dancers who don't have an outlet, he says. "They don't think there's anyone else who does it."

Feeling a lack of MS support in the community, aside from the MS Walk, Curry and the group planned a dance battle to raise money and awareness.

"That was the start of us throwing battles," he says.

At each battle, participants perform three main types of dance: crumping, popping and breaking.

Curry describes crumping as an "emotional release dance," which originated as "praising God through emotion." Popping is comparable to "old-school funk" dancing from the early 1970s, he says. And breaking is breakdance, head spins and one-hand spins.

Curry says he learned a lot from the first "Dance for a Cause" event. Only one person showed up.

"We learned how to advertise ourselves," he says. "But we cherished that one person who came to support us. They became our friend and ultimately became a dancer."

The next semester, Curry tried it again and ended up raising a lot more money -- and more attendees.

He now teaches at On Cue Performing Arts Studio in Cape Girardeau. That's where he got the idea to create Fingerprint Junior, for kids in 2016.

The students who excel in the classes get to travel to Dallas and perform for the community at different events, along with the adults from Fingerprint, Curry says.

"That connection to the kids is what drives me now," he says. "Because they really are the heart and soul of what we do. We want to continue the dance movement in Cape."

Christopher Guada, 7, dances during a Fingerprint Jr. class Feb. 28 at On Cue Performing Arts Studio in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Fingerprint will host a workshop from 7 to 10 p.m. today. No preregistration is required. The "Battlez of Originality Vol. 2" competition is Saturday, featuring judges from Florida, Texas and Tennessee, Curry says, which will benefit Fingerprint Jr.

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1) Iona College: Killian

2) University of Miami: Sebastian the Ibis

3) Ohio State: Brutus Buckeye

4) Purdue: Purdue Pete

5) Radford: The Highlander

6) TCU: Superfrog

7) Stephen F. Austin: Lumberjacks

8) Oklahoma: Boomer and Sooner

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RIP Bozo

Frank Avruch, left, who played Bozo the Clown, poses with Hersh, center and Carroll Spinney, who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on "Sesame Street," in 2009.Stuart Hersh ~ Associated Press

Frank Avruch -- known for his role as Bozo the Clown and star of the popular children's TV show -- has died at the age of 89.

"He had a heart of gold," manager Stuart Hersh said, according to a story by the Associated Press. "He brought the Bozo the Clown character to life better than anyone else's portrayal..."

Avruch toured the world performing as Bozo the clown for UNICEF, and was also a contributor to WCVB-TV for more than 40 years as a host of "Man About Town" and "The Great Entertainment."