Home-Grown Club Takes Off : 37 Project Girls Looking for Any Chance to Dance

The young girls who marched down Van Nuys Boulevard during Pacoima’s rally against drugs Friday are always up for a parade . . . or party . . . or just about any other activity that lets them hop around and dance.

From little 3-year-old Madonna Martinez, with her curly pony tail tied with a pink ribbon, to 15-year-old Rene Matthews, with her intricate corn-row braids, this group is proud to shout out the name of their exclusive organization: the Project Girls, or PJG for short.

They are part drill team, part dance squad, but mainly a girls’ club started last year by a mother who wanted to make sure girls living in Pacoima’s sprawling San Fernando Gardens housing project on Van Nuys Boulevard had something to do after school besides watching television or playing in dangerous alleys.

Aside from their annual Christmas parade and Friday’s march, the girls also put on a holiday show at a nearby park for their parents. They have sponsored a car wash to raise money for their uniforms. And, at least twice a month, they go out for pizza dinners together.

But what they like to do the most is dance--a lot.

‘Like to Practice’

In fact, they get together practically every day.

“I tell you, I can’t believe how much these girls like to practice,” said Betty Moore, 37, an eight-year housing project resident who organized the group. “There’s nothing else to do around here, so they just want to practice every day.”

From 5 to 7 p.m. Monday though Friday, all 37 of the Project Girls meet inside Moore’s apartment. The youngsters push Moore’s sparse furnishings against the wall, turn up the stereo and dance in sync.

“Small steps, small steps!” Moore shouted over the heavy rhythmical beat of a song called the “Square Dance Rap.” “Now you girls quit backing into each other.”

Sonia Nieto, 12, said attending the practice sessions is the only outside activity her mother allows after dark “because it’s too dangerous. . . . But, in here, everywhere you turn, you’ve got a friend.”

Using their own money and donations from a local grocery store and the Pacoima Chamber of Commerce, the girls bought uniforms this year--white skirts and blouses with two bright red stripes on each side.

Moore, who enforces tight discipline by making a girl who is late three times sit out a practice, said each child will receive a trophy for her participation.

“I want these girls to have a trophy to show that if they work hard, they can achieve something,” Moore said.

Members decided this year that the group needed a name and came up with a few choices: The Dream Girls, The San Fernando Garden Girls and The Project Girls.

When asked why they chose the latter, they shouted the obvious answer:

“Because we live in the projects!”