What started as an educational program to prevent children and youth from participating in high-risk behavior has grown into a performance group of youth that tours schools, civic organizations and conferences. The Smart Moves Players Theater Arts Ensemble includes an all-female dance group, Sisters With Soul; the Smart Moves Touring Ensemble, a theater group; and the full troupe of 74 youth who write, choreograph, stage and perform at least three productions a year. The performances are adapted from literature, including works by Langston Hughes and original work by Director Sandra Riley, and feature soliloquies, music and dance. Rehearsing on average twice a week after school and three times a week in the summer, the youth can either specialize in one area or do a bit of everything. The Touring Ensemble performed A Piece of Black History, a play related to Martin Luther King's birthday, at schools, churches, civic organizations and private corporations. "The kids are coming up with their own ideas for shows and setting up their own rehearsals. They feel like the program is theirs because they have such a strong role in creating the pieces," says Riley. "They get a lot of admiration from their peers for their performances, which helps them steer away from risky behavior that might elicit the same type of admiration."