Hip Hop Hits Vermont

by Margaret Michniewicz

Throbbing bassline rhythms, jaw-dropping flips, and driving moves are bringing dance and movement back to the mainstream across Vermont. Examples like the Kingdom’s hip hop collaboration with Philadelphia master Clyde Evans and his troupe Chosen highlight the power of rhythm and movement to cross lines of gender, race, body type, and scoioeconomics to bring an authentic message that is far from the standard media hype.

Hip Hop Teaches Respect and Unity

After a highly energized evening of infectious music and phenomenal moves, the dance company Chosen closed its Vermont performance with the words, "respect plus love equals peace," urging the audience to join in their moving wish for peace. It was the power of those words that inspired the collaboration of Northeast Kingdom students with urban hip hop artists. "We wanted it to be about dance — but also about a cultural experience… we wanted urban culture to meet rural culture and to have both be changed through dance by the experience," explains Lyndon State College dance instructor Felicia Darling. The seminars, workshops, and final performance were entitled "Break Loose: Northeast Kingdom’s Dance Unity Project."

Coming Together Through Dance

Students from the communities of Lyndonville, Newport, St. Johnsbury, and Lyndon State College, shared four packed days of moves, words, laughs and smiles with Philadelphia’s acclaimed dance company, culminating in an evening of performance by eighty young Vermonters opening for hip hop artist Clyde Evans and Chosen at the Lyndon Institute auditorium on November 13. The capacity crowd was moved by Evans’ poignant take on Beethoven’s "Moonlight Sonata" — three parts ballet, interpretive performance, and break dance — accompanied by troupe member playing grand piano. This community came together as friends, daughters, sons, and students emerged as inspired performers, fully confident on stage after just a few hours of movin’ and hangin’ with the Philly professionals.

The community chose to bring the genuine hip hop experience to the Kingdom, to dispel the commercial media image and encourage the culture sharing that only music and dance can bring. The mission was to educate and inspire through music and movement as students from the Lyndon Institute, Lyndon State College, St. Johnsbury Academy, and Lyndon Town School created and performed original pieces, then came together for a group performance. "Hip hop is for everyone," says Darling, dance instructor at Lyndon State College who spearheaded the grant request effort. For boys, girls, dancers, athletes, those with a message to express, and those who wish to join in, hip hop crosses genders, body types, and maybe one day socio-economic difference. Grants that combine authentic exposure and the passion of a teacher and artist like Evans, help bring the dream to life.

"Break Loose" was inspired by Rennie Harris’ Puremovement Performance at Burlington’s Flynn Theater in October 2002 . Darling wanted to bring dancers to the Kingdom to show hip hop culture apart from the inauthentic, "mainstream media version." She was [hugely] supported by Burklyn Arts President Cara Berryman who co-wrote the project grant proposal. Darling then convinced Lyndon Town School, Lyndon Institute, and St. Johnsbury Academy to contribute financially — no small matter, given present education budgets. "My God! It takes a community to build a project like this," Darling explains. "We did not have a lot of extra funds. This was truly a community project."

Lyndon Institute’s performers were choreographed by their new dance instructor Becca Smith; St. Johnsbury Academy was directed by Marianne Handy Hraibi; and, Cherie Skurdall choreographed the North Country Union High School dance company. In the performance as well as the classes with Chosen, "it was mostly girls. But the classes were taught by boys and hip hop dance is quite staccato. So many boys enjoyed it as well," says Darling. Boys also comprised about ten percent of the classes.
Cross-Cultural Mix

Not all hip hop is the same. So-called bling bling hip hop stars, though perhaps originally from the streets, now only sing of their "girls and diamonds"… for money, suggests Darling. Chosen and Evans dispel that image. "To educate as well as entertain, Chosen is for all ages," is the Chosen slogan. For those unfamiliar with or predisposed against hip hop Darling is glad that "Clyde was the one to frame it for them."

"Some hip hop is detrimental to the black community — especially the black female community," posits Darling — but it is not exclusive to that music genre. "Misogyny, drugs, sexualizing women, violence…these things are not good," she adds. However, there are nuances within the category of hip hop, differences between songs and artists that celebrate violence and those who report on it. That such conditions exist in America is a brutal reality.

The audience responded to the performance, engaged, and participated. Jessica Workman, a senior from Lake Region High School, attended the performance and said, "I think Chosen is a great program to have come here because this area needs that message more than anything. The perception I came out with was that hip hop is not just about talking violence or degrading women. They came out and said the original message is about respect and freedom of speech! I’m glad that the program came here and I hope that people left with the same perception I did."

Evans and the other performers reportedly liked their expedition to the Northeast very much, saying that the "audiences here were better than in the city. Everyone was screaming all the time here, while in the city people are very reserved."

Stepping Outside Media Stereotypes

Darling, whose grandparents came from McIndoe Falls, returned to the Kingdom twenty years ago, and loves it because it is "pristine here and the people are honest and substantial… I love being a part of bringing cultural opportunities to the area." She considers hip hop dance as an "American Folk Dance". She finds the emergence of hip hop culture not unlike that of Jazz or the Blues — a cultural expression by the disenfranchised fringe of society, portrayed through music and dance. While those who have privileged lives may not be entitled to speak and sing for those oppressed in the margins, hip hop is for everyone in that the "flow of communication" that happens by sharing the culture is an important and noble thing.

As a teacher, Darling is aware of parent concerns about young people participating in phenomenon that has been portrayed in the media as a sexual dance culture. She herself is concerned that there is "pressure from the media and our communities to sexualize girls and define girls by this sexualization." However, "girls can choose to do hip hop sexually or not. The super sexy way that girls dance in hip hop comes a lot from the media. But I think people should act the way they want to act. If teenage girls are dancing ‘sexually’ for themselves, then that is cool. I would be concerned if teenage girls were dancing sexually to define themselves for someone else." Darling has also asked a lot of questions about the culture and its values, and has found that "it is much less about sex than you think."

As a dance instructor, she is happy to find that hip hop dance is a "socially acceptable dance form for males," noting that there’s generally been social pressure against boys dancing. But hip hop is for everyone. The benefits to teen-aged self-esteem should not be overlooked. "The student dancers are impressed with themselves for opening for that amazing act," she says, noting that there were boys and girls, athletes, and dancers, kids of all body types.

"I don’t believe body type has anything to do with your ability to dance. It might preclude you from doing certain steps, but that’s not always true. Dancing has more to do with heart and soul than arms and legs. It’s more about the inside of the person than the outside," Montpelier dance instructor Lorraine Neal explains.

Still Dancing

In January Felicia Darling will spend time in advanced hip hop master classes in Philadelphia, a city she loves. "The poverty is heartbreaking, but the people are kind." One of the students who performed, Megan Fernandez, may also have the opportunity to go along.

Weeks after the conclusion of "Break Loose", Darling is still buoyant from the experience. "It feels great to have brought this opportunity to the community. I worked my butt off and this was one of those times in life where I got ten times back the effort I put in to the project…. Other people got so much out of their visit too. Dance teachers built new relationships with each other. Adults and kids still thank me every day for helping to make this happen. I went to sleep very tired that night, a smile on my face."

What’s more, "My cool factor went up by about a factor of ten in the community— particularly with the young people."