Dance features two Ventura Youth Correctional Facility offenders

By Joe Orlando, CDCR Public Information Officer

Two girls from the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility (YCF) participated in a liturgical dance at a mass at the annual Santa Barbara Regional Religious Education Congress.

Along with volunteers Cathy Seine and Cathy Zambrano, and several others, Jasmine Gomez and Elyde Hernandez Camarillo spent a month practicing the routine and dance moves.

They danced before the reading and brought up the gifts. About 500 people attended the event.

Afterwards, Hernandez Camarillo explained what the dance and the liturgy meant to her.

Jasmine Gomez and Elyde Hernandez Camarillo spent a month practicing the routine and dance moves for a liturgical dance at a mass at the annual Santa Barbara Regional Religious Education Congress.

“This is the first time I have danced publicly. At first it was hard, but I gained confidence in life. The fact that I am doing it for God brings me peace,” Hernandez Camarillo said.

Gomez said it was peaceful, once her nerves settled down.

“The experience was nerve-wracking at first, then I got into it and I felt at peace for once, and I enjoyed it,” she said.

The two youths were featured in the Tidings, a Catholic newspaper covering Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Editor’s note: Catherine Conneally-Salazar from Ventura Youth Correctional Facility contributed to this report.