Every morning at 7 a.m., six Asian students arrive at Fannin Elementary to learn about their cultural heritage.
But it is not another Laos or Cambodian who teaches them the traditional dances of their culture. Matter of fact, it’s not even someone who has been to Laos or Cambodia.
It’s John Gallagher, a neighborhood resident and Fannin teacher who has taken it upon himself to help the Asian students at Fannin keep their heritage alive. Gallagher created the Asian Dance Troupe at Fannin in 1985 and over the years he has taught about 150 students the ancient dances of Cambodia and Laos.
Even after many of the students leave Fannin they still stay in contact with Gallagher and continue to dance for his troupe, which does about 80 performances a year.
“I enjoy doing it,” Gallagher says. “I have not had a religious experience that some almighty being told me to do this. I just think it’s important to preserve this.”
At the morning practices, the six students dance in their socks in the hallway at Fannin. Straw mats lay on the ground for the students to dance on. The music of a pipe, drum and a woman’s voice singing in Cambodian plays from a tape player as Gallagher walks between the dancers, straightening their hands and moving their feet.
Gallagher started learning about Asian cultures in 1981 when Fannin had an influx of Asian students. In one day, the school enrolled 50 students from Laos, Gallagher says.
“The kids were there and no one could communicate with the parents,” he says.
So Gallagher taught himself to speak their language by memorizing a Laos to English dictionary. He researched extensively and got a software system that prints school notes in Laos and Cambodian.
But his involvement in the students’ culture didn’t stop there. A teacher aide taught students Cambodian dances for a school Cinco de Mayo celebration in 1982. The teacher aide moved onto another job, but students and parents wanted the dancing to continue. So Gallagher stepped in, or rather danced in, and created the Asian Dance Troupe.
He researched extensively and found tapes and videos to learn the dances. He established network that stretches coast to coast and orders authentic costumes and head pieces from Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
About the time Gallagher was getting involved in the dancing, his father, Tom, retired and started helping out also. He pays for the costumes, takes students to the dentist and school and helps them with their homework.
In Tom’s bedroom there are stacks of brightly colored costumes with gold threads weaved in them and jewels that he sewed on.
“This is my life,” Tom says. “This is the last of my life. When I retired I knew there would be some thing to keep me busy. I’m in better health now than when I was working.”
John, who has worked at Fannin for 22 years, says he never expected to get so involved with the students and their heritage. But he says he doesn’t do it for himself, he does it for them and what it gives them.
“A chance to learn some of their traditions,” Gallagher says. “Some understanding, some attention. At least someone cared enough to do this.”
