By BRYNNE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Music was pounding through the Moapa Valley Library on Friday, August 1, as guest artist DJ Tony brought his special brand of fun-full of music, dancing, and movement to local kids. DJ Tony’s show is a kid favorite in Moapa Valley every summer. The library was fortunate enough to have him again this year.
To start the show, the DJ gave the participants several stuffed animals to pass around the circle. As he called out things like, “switch,” and, “turn around,” the kids passed the animals as fast as they could. The goal of the game was to not have the stuffed animal when the DJ called out, “ Stop!” The circle got smaller and smaller until there was only one person left standing. Cassandra Nelson was claimed the winner and received a special cd full of all DJ Tony’s favorite hits. Several other kids were the recipients of prizes also, as DJ Tony kept stopping the game to quiz the kids.
He put on many hats including Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. The object was to guess the character and then answer some questions about the book or movie the character was from. The children had fun answering his questions.
But adults were not left out as the DJ sent several challenges their way, too. DJ Tony called out for one mom who would let him draw a mustache and beard on her. The brave soul who answered was Rosemary Freeman. Everyone laughed as DJ Tony gave her a mustache and goatee.
After the circle game the gauntlet was thrown down for another DJ Tony favorite competition: The hula hoop contest! After letting everyone take a few practice runs, DJ Tony started up the first round. Things got a little tricky, though, since someone could only compete if they answered a question about a book or a movie. If they answered a second question about the same work correctly, they could pull a friend into the contest, too.
When all the hula hoops were taken, DJ Tony started the music. Once everyone had their rhythm and hoops going, he mixed it up a little bit. He made the competitors raise their hands above their heads, kneel down, stand on one foot, dance, and pull off other crazy moves. He did three rounds with different kids each time. When the third round was done, he put all the hula hoops away and invited everyone to the dance floor. Then he taught the kids dance moves like “scary feet,” and “wring the towel.”
With these newly acquired moves, the kids starred in their own music video. They danced to “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams, as the DJ called out the next dance move. A lot of the parents filmed the dance and everyone had a blast.
DJ Tony has been a DJ for over thirty years. He works full time as a firefighter in Las Vegas, but comes out every year to perform for kids at libraries all over Clark County. He has been partnering with the Las Vegas Clark County Library for 9 years and visits thirteen to fourteen libraries a year, all within the month and a half that the Summer Reading Program takes place. He enjoys this big commitment and serving kids.
“My favorite part of being a DJ for kids is teaching them and helping them learn new dance moves and new ideas,” he said. “I like giving them something to do other than sit on the couch and play PlayStation all day. I like to teach them and ask them questions to get them excited about reading.”
DJ Tony and the Summer Reading Program have definitely left their mark on the kids. Trevor Morley said, “ I had a lot of fun. My favorite part was dancing to ‘Happy’. The Summer Reading Program has helped me to read more. I have come to all of the activities, and I’m excited for the reading program to come back this fall.”
Although the Summer Reading Program is now officially over, fall programming at the library will be restarting on September 5, at the regular storytime time of Fridays at 4:00pm, when Doctor Einstien von Moustache and Professor Wilhelm Fredrich will be making their fall comeback with their, “Best of Moustache and Friedrich at the Libratory” show. Hope to see you there!
