Liberia's Rose Kingston was featured on the Tyra Bank Show
(May 1, 2008) By: TEVAH PLATT

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Supermodel and TV star Tyra Banks will bestow high honors-- and a new car-- on a Staten Island dance teacher who does extraordinary work in her community.

Rose Kingston of Stapleton-- one of five women chosen from hundreds of candidates nationwide--will be featured on the "Tyra Banks Show" on Wednesday at 5 p.m. on My 9 New York.

Ms. Kingston is the founder of Bay Street's Century Dance Complex (CDC), and operates an after-school dance and academic tutoring program for Island youth.

Refugee children from war-torn regions of West Africa attend for free on sponsorships from the International Rescue Committee, while Ms.. Kingston waives the fees for children of refugees and keeps the cost of the program affordable to a diverse group of kids; bottom line, she's in it for the invaluable good she can do for children with serious needs.

The Advance profiled Ms. Kingston and her work at the CDC in December, when her students presented a Christmas concert that showcased both the steps they had learned and the camaraderie and poise they had developed by participating.




Ms. Kingston, 27, is herself a refugee of Liberia's civil war, who left a glossy Los Angeles dance career to establish her own studio in Stapleton in 2005.


"I'm creating a safe haven for them," she had said of her work at the CDC. "Whatever their 'war' is, I want them to realize they are not alone."

Saleen Shah, a community organizer with the Manhattan-based Citizens Committee for New York City, nominated Ms. Kingston to be considered for the Tyra Banks Show after seeing her work on Staten Island first-hand in September.

"She was doing some of the most profound and meaningful work I had seen [on the North Shore]," said Shah. "She expressed a confidence and hope that is really rare in a quote-unquote distressed community. She had this quiet strength about her."

The producers of the "Tyra Banks Show" must have seen that same strength when they interviewed Ms. Kingston in Manhattan and came to her dance studio in late March to film her with her students.

And what's a talk show without big surprises?

Ms. Kingston can be seen on the show's Web site screaming with shocked delight as she receives a new Chevy Malibu. "I feel overwhelmed," said Ms. Kingston of her experience on the show.

"As far as the dance studio goes, I just feel like it's something that I'm supposed to do. I felt happy and thrilled and I felt like -- Oh my God -- Me?!" The CDC is holding a fund-raiser on Friday for their after-school program, to be held at Curtis High School at 7 p.m.

Ms. Kingston announced that the AEGON Insurance Co. has committed to match donations, dollar for dollar.

For information, call 718-501-2173.

Tevah Platt is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at