Heels Over Head: 5 Tips to Get More Comfortable With Inversions

“Being upside down is important to me,” says Pavan Thimmaiah. After all, an image of an upside-down dancer in a freeze is the logo for his New York City–based PMT House of Dance studio. And yet, when Thimmaiah was younger, he was so unsure about being upside down that his mother, attempting to help, would […]

The B-Girl's Battle for Equality in a Male-Dominated Style

It was the late ’90s, and breaking pioneer Ana “Rokafella” Garcia was in rehearsals for a major theater production with a crew of male breakers. A popular b-boy began making comments dripping with sexual innuendo about the only other woman in the group. With each consecutive rehearsal, the harassment progressed while other castmates stood by […]

Bringing Urban Dance Practices Into the University System

Recognizing the importance of questions such as “Who teaches what? And for who?,” many degree programs have recently been starting to alter their curriculums. Yet this approach has always been central to the University of East London’s BA Dance: Urban Practice, which has used alternative approaches to teach popular urban dances since 2007. Students in […]

“i, Butterfly” Follows a Dancer’s Search for Her Identity

“Butterflies go through a metamorphosis in their life, and I feel like I definitely have gone through one in mine,” British dancer Sharifa Butterfly, formerly Sharifa Tonkmor, says in the film “i, Butterfly.” The film follows her on a journey searching for her identity, and ultimately, finding a family in the Rain Crew, a group […]