Hip Hop Dance: From the Street to the Stage

Hip Hop Dance: From the Street to the Stage is curated by Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio and Ana “Rokafella” Garcia Dionisio, Co-Artistic Directors of Full Circle Productions; and co-Presented by SummerStage and Dancing in the Streets as a joint celebration of their 30th anniversaries.

Multiple generations of hip-hop dancers, including Bronx-based Full Circle Souljahs, street dancer Float Master John, and Hip Hop legend Emilio “Buddha Stretch” Austin Jr., trace the evolution of Hip Hop dance—from Breaking, Locking, and Popping to new forms, such as Flexing and Lite Feet—from the streets to clubs and theatres, and from the Bronx to Harlem, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Tokyo. The program will culminate in a cipher (free style dance circle). Hosted by Rokafella, with music by Behind the Groove DJs KS360 and DP One playing the classics that make you move!

Dancing in the Streets is a 30-year old, not-for-profit arts organizations that presents FREE, adventurous, public performances in unexpected places. In 2007, it launched Hip Hop Generation Next, a series of performances, block parties, and competitions that celebrates the Bronx origins and global evolution of Hip Hop culture. Since Dancing in the Streets moved to the Bronx in 2011, it has produced programs that reclaim, revitalize, and promote the rich cultural history of the Bronx, including The Bronx Revolution and the Birth of Hip Hop, a multi-media production about the birth of Hip Hop by Joanna Haigood in collaboration with Hip Hop pioneers.

Full Circle Productions is a non profit Hip-hop dance company based in the Bronx that preserves, evolves and shares its vibrant energy with students and audiences. Co-Artistic Directors Kwikstep and Rokafella are internationally acclaimed break dancers, choreographers, filmmakers, and musicians.

Emilio “Buddha Stretch” Austin Jr. is a roving ambassador of Hip Hop dance who travels the world as choreographer, dancer, teacher, and competition judge. He has been

Illstyle & Peace Productions is a Philadelphia-based hip hop crew of DJs, beatboxers, and dancers. Under the direction of Brandon “Peace” Albright, the electrifying dancers’ spins, dives, flips, and kicks “seem to defy the laws of physics” (Washington City Paper).