How Husband-and-Wife Duo Kwikstep and Rokafella Are Celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary
It’s impossible to chart the rise of hip hop without coming across Ana “Rokafella” Garcia and Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio.
Meet Usha Jey, the Rising Multi-Hyphenate Fusing Bharatanatyam and Hip Hop
Paris-based Tamil dancer and choreographer Usha Jey took the world by storm when her #HybridBharatham series went viral on social media. Featuring duets and trios in which dancers switch between hip hop and the Indian classical dance style bharatanatyam, the videos are set to tracks by rappers such as Lil Wayne, Jack Harlow and DaBaby.
Evolving Tradition With the Fusion of Hip Hop and Native American Dance
Dancers’ interest in mixing contemporary ideas has given rise to the growth of a new fused style: Native American hip hop.
From Civil Rights to Bruce Lee: These Are The Influences That Shaped The Birth of Hip Hop
The culture is born of struggle and oppression, resulting directly from the end of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and the culmination of the Vietnam War.
How Choreographer Sean Bankhead Became a Social Sensation
There’s something about Sean Bankhead‘s choreography that moves you to your feet. Through intricate footwork, a twerk moment or a groove typical to Atlanta dance styles, he makes the lyrics, the melody and every instrument playing come alive. “He wants you to feel the music exactly how he hears it in his head,” says JaQuel […]
Community Dance Emerges as the Star of In the Heights
In Washington Heights, if Usnavi is to be believed, the streets are made of music. In the opening moments of the film version of In the Heights, the lead character, played by Anthony Ramos, lightly drums a clave beat. The rhythm is taken over by a pair of keys, a gate, a hose, before scratch—Usnavi […]
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 […]