On May 19, 2017, a collective of Twin Cities dance artists who range in upbringing, generation, and relationship to dance genres took to the Cowles Center stage for the opening night performance of MIXTAPE. Their goal? To ask and answer the question, “What is Hip Hop?” The cast was lead by a team of seven choreographer/performers – Jason (J-Sun) Noer, Al Taw’am (Iman and Khadijah Siferllah-Griffin), Magnolia Yang Sao Yia, Herb Johnson III, Ozzy Dris and Darrius Strong – who shared a common interest: “challenging the dominant narrative that has appropriated, commercialized, and corporatized ‘Hip Hop’ culture.” As outlined in the program notes, the leaders’ goals for this production were lofty and broad. They wanted to design a program that reflected the culture of mix-taping using musical transitions by Minneapolis producer and composer BIONIK to transition between different pieces OF MUSIC? and different styles of dance. They also wanted to create a dialogue around their central question (“What is Hip Hop?”) through juxtaposition of “a variety of dance styles that exist under the umbrella of Hip Hop, from Breaking to House to Rocking to Urban and Street.” Photo by Bill Cottman MIXTAPE did not have a main director or choreographer, but would have benefitted from having someone […]
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