Friendship, entertainment and talent combined to make the Shindig Showcase a success on stage at the Milpitas Teen Center on Friday, June 9. Milpitas teens performed Yang-style 24-form tai chi and wushu straight sword routines, danced, played their original songs and played the pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument to a mostly senior audience.
The Milpitas Teen Center opened about five years ago as a safe space that provides services and programs for teens ages 13-18. With about 200 active members, the center also fosters intergenerational community by being collocated with the Milpitas Senior Center.
Many of the first members of the center grew with it and became team members, running the center themselves for their fellow teens, giving the showcase the feel of a family reunion.
“The artist on stage was one of kids when the center first had cooking classes year ago, and now he is running the show,” said one audience member.
The Shindig Showcase is the brainchild of Jason Villaruz, a special project associate for the City of Milpitas. While attending the 2023 Lunar Show at Milpitas High School earlier this year, Villaruz noticed that a couple students who organized the show were also members of the Milpitas Teen Center. He recruited a team of 16 teens and dubbed them the Milpitas Teen Center Ambassadors, then tasked them to produce a similar show and put the teen center on the map.
The teen ambassadors are Mukil Kumar, Prithvi Chezhian, Ved Vyas, David Doan, Edward Wong, Kimaya Sur, Katelyn Tu, Timothy Tu, Jerry Zhong, Letizia Lee, Kylie Nguyen, Evon Young, Chandni Sharma, Nithila Thirumoorthy, Aditi Gupta and Khoi Pham.
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