Some inmates are doing the chicken dance in the Pierce County Jail in Washington. They’re standing in a circle, so as they lift their arms to flap their wings, they knock elbows and shoulders.
“Okay, I’m gonna do… this,” says one inmate, punctuating the last word with a dab. Cheers raise from the group and everyone starts the choreography from the beginning, with someone adding a Michael Jackson-esque foot flick to the ad hoc sequence. “In all my years in prison, I never thought I’d be doing that,” says David Anello, an inmate with a strong New York accent and an easy smile. His face is red from a wheezy laugh.
Anello is one of 14 self-selected Alternatives to Violence Project workshop participants. It’s the second day of the three-day workshop, and the activity in which he and the others are involved is called “Dancing Dan,” an exercise that gives them a reprieve from the emotional intensity of the program. The facilitators have been encouraging levity and laughter from the moment they started—it’s essential to the process.
