Aiko
Amy Catfox Campion is the founder and Artistic Director of Antics Performance, a multimedia street dance theater company based in Los Angeles. Her choreography has been presented at the Ford Amphitheater, the Skirball Cultural Center, REDCAT, the Esalen International Arts Festival, Zumiez 100K Ceremony, BGirl Be Festival, the Music Center, and on PBS television amongst others. Catfox has been training BGirling and Capoeira for 11 years. She also has extensive experience in hip hop dance, locking, house, salsa, tango, and modern. She can be seen in the film, BBoy the Movie, in the up-coming short film "The Members", and in the Open Mike Eagle "I Rock" music video. She currently teaches at Cerritos College. She received her MFA in Choreography from UCLA in 2006.
Angel Adams is a north Minneapolis native. She has been dancing professionally for 20 years. Angel has studied such dance styles as Hip-hop, Jazz, Modern, African, and ballet. She began her teaching career at Zenon School of Dance teaching hip hop; from there she has taught at various community centers and workshops before finding a home at The Art of Dance Studio and is now in her 5th year with AOD. Angel truly enjoys dancing, creating, and learning and looks forward to new experiences. You can find her performing at various venues around Minnesota.
Antics Performance speaks the language of hip-hop with daring concepts and a powerful style. "Reclaiming hip hop... by expanding the idiom's creative horizons," says the LA Times. Under the direction of Amy Catfox Campion, Antics creates multimedia street dance performances that incorporate MCs, DJs, spoken word, and film into hand-clapping, foot-stomping performances. Antics has been featured at the Ford Amphitheater, the El Portal, REDCAT, the Skirball, and the Music Center and regularly participates in community workshops and lecture/demonstrations. www.AnticsPerformance.com
The Art of Dance Studio. Founded in 2002 the mission of the Art of Dance Studio is to use the arts to enrich the lives of its community members through dance. We aspire to develop and maintain a reputation in the community for providing state of the art dance instruction in African, tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and tumbling classes. We have dancers at all levels including recreational, competitive and professional.
Aruna is one of the few female faces in Holland’s Hip-Hop community. As a b-girl she found a way to express her appreciation of the philosophy, music and lifestyle of Hip-Hop culture since 1997. Along with two other bboys from Rotterdam she started ‘HipHopHuis’ in 2002, a centre for HipHop culture. Schooled by Holland’s oldskool bboy generation, she understands the importance of sharing knowledge and skills. In her workshop she explains the concept of breaking through music, imagination and attitude. Expect basic movements such as rotations (backpins), poses (freeze) and steps. This workshop is useful for all levels, but specifically interesting for beginners.
Brandi Phillips
Cayla DeWaters has been a dancer since the age of six when she put on her first leotard and attended her first dance class. Ever since then she hasn’t stopped and grew up constantly dancing in any reflection available whether it was a mirror or a window in her mom’s living room. She was the classic studio dancer starting off with attending tap and jazz classes, as well as modern and ballet. In the midst of taking all of these classes though, Cayla’s true passion for dance would show through her freestyle at school dances and parties when she would break open the cipher with a two step, heal toe, Harlem shake, or any other hot dance move that was out at the time. Her true excitement for dance has always been more so for Hip Hop styles and she had the opportunity to absorb everything she always wanted to know about those styles when she attended the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists her junior year of high school. Through this school she was exposed to many Twin Cities teachers such as Colleen Ueland, Dancin’ Dave, Amy Sackett and the Collective crew. Through them her knowledge and passion for this style and culture grew even more. Since then, Cayla has performed in a couple of local shows including being a back up dancer for the performer Oryan at Tracadero’s night club during Pride Week, Lundstrum Center’s annual Gala performance, and the Star Quest dance competition. She also taught a Hip Hop dance class through her local YMCA for a couple of years. Cayla continues to dance on her own and plans to audition for many more local shows in the future.
ConsciousSpirit. A movement group using dance styles rooted in the African Diaspora. Interweaving Hip Hop and step techniques with traditional West African movements to create work that is community connected. Lead by Founder and Artistic director Maia Maiden. Scientist by day, dancer by night, Maia has been in the dance community for over 15 years. Born and raised in South Minneapolis, she has studied all genres of dance primarily focusing on West African, Hip Hop, and step. The group consists of Lindsey Hunter, DeOnna Gray Lige, DesJohnna Gray Lige, and Keri McWilliams.
Aneka McMullen EPITOME- NO QUESTION is a very grateful performer & choreographer who hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota and holds a BFA in Dance from The Ohio State University. Her extensive performance skill- set includes: dance, modeling and acting. With over 20 years of dance experience, Miss Aneka is skilled in many genres, from Krumping to Ballet! Aneka is a founder and artistic director of Epitome- No Question, an open Hip Hop dance company dedicated to celebrating the community conscious roots of Hip Hop culture through dance -theater. Epitome- No Question represents “Old Skool” Hip Hop because it best reflects the West African roots. Hip Hop with the “Hop” in it!
Girl-ISH is an all-female hip hop dance group based out of the Twin Cities that merges a collection of styles from fresh hip hop dance to breakdancing to funk styles in powerful and exciting performances. Girl-ISH is inspired by hip-hop culture and artistry. They combine the classic dance moves of the old school era with the modern dancing of today. Their song selections usually consist of funk style beats, new more modern break beats, and also some modern hip-hop songs. Their goals are to preserve the true elements of hip-hop while sharing their love for dance and having fun.
Illmatic Crew. Moriah Thompson (Riah), Simone Thompson (Monie) and Breanna Nelson (Bree) are 3 talented young ladies who started Hip Hop Dance at an early age. These childhood friends shared the dance recital stage together for years studying various Hip Hop dance styles with Twin Cities talented Hip Hop Choreographer Amy Sackett. The group officially made their first public appearance outside the recital stage at Mall of America’s Camp Snoopy with Collective Dance co. As they developed their talent for dance they’ve shared their passion with audiences across the twin cities performing at various shows and events. Some which include St. Paul Flints Hills Children’s festival, Walker Art center, Owatonna cultural fest and B Girl Be. Each member of the crew brings their own unique style and dance to collectively create Illmatic.
Joshua Raul Stevens attended the St. Paul Conservatory of the Performing Arts. He advanced his dance knowledge in a wide range of dance genres including, Modern, Contemporary, Ballet, African, and Swing. Joshua started his own Hip-hop dance crew, Obtuse in 2009. The crew has performed at a variety of events throughout the Twin Cities. Together the two choreographers (mother and son) enjoy using their God-given talent to create pieces that will bring excitement to peoples' Spirits.
Lana Trendov is a Gender Women and Sexuality Studies major at the U of M. She finds movement as a site for social change by disrupting, subverting and freeing the body of norms. She dances at local hip hop shows. Letting the body be what it is by doing what it does.
Laura Kirkeby is excited to be a part of B-Girl Be this year! She recently received her BFA in dance from the University of Minnesota, and was involved in various productions both as a performer and choreographer. Laura has always loved watching the Minneapolis breaking and hip hop community and believes crossing over into other disciplines allows for more understanding and growth. She is finding hip-hop to be a strong artistic expression and a place where people from all different backgrounds and communities can share histories, and create change.
Hello, I'm Lily Stone. I have been participating in the hip-hop community by performing and choreographing in The Hip-Hop Choreographer's Evening. I have also performed at the Kiana Marie show, Fineline Café, the W.I.S.E. event, and the Back to School event with Boombox dance crew. I have also studied hip-hop at Saint Paul Conservatory as well. It is now an honor to be a part of B-Girl B!
Linda Green’s dance training began at the age of 12 at “City Lights” Dance Studio, where she studied ballet and creative movement. Throughout her high school years, she performed various dance routines that led her to a summer internship for dance and theatre at the University of Minnesota. Following high school, Linda continued her training at the University of Minnesota where she studied modern dance, ballet, jazz, creative movement, drama and improvisational theatre, where she received her degree in Dance and Theatre in 1984. Linda established The Art of Dance Studio in 2002; which currently has an enrollment of approximately 200 students. She has traveled to Anaheim, California; Daytona Beach, Florida; Chicago, Illinois and Las Vegas, Nevada where she took her Competition Team and won top Platinum awards. In 2007, she led her dancers to be the dance team for the Minnesota Lynx Women’s Basketball team. This led to an annual performance during the half-time game for the Harlem Globetrotters, whenever they appear in the Twin Cities. Each year Linda gets closer to her long-term goal of opening another studio.
MO-tion Pilots formed after choreographer, Amy Sackett, choreographed a J-Term hip-hop piece at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. Through that opportunity she met and worked with many young talented dancers. Amy created a hip-hop version of Romeo and Juliet, which debuted at O’Shaughnessy Theater to a packed and enthusiastic audience. Many of the students were eager to perform the piece again. Promising a future performance to the students, she fused her students at SPCPA with her longtime students Illmatic Crew. They are please to be a part of B-Girl Be 2010!
Nicole M. Smith is an artist, educator, community activist, youth advocate…a native of Saint Paul, Nicole attributes her love of all things creative (theatre, writing, spoken word – just the ability to “express yo self!”) to her experience at Central High School. “I went into this building as a 14 year old traveling through the labyrinth of hallways, feeling like a car driving aimlessly along the educational system resembling tangled highways and byways. It wasn’t until I found myself parked in the classroom of Jan Mandell, when I realized that I had a voice that mattered…a voice that had power…a voice worth hearing…I walked out of that building 4 years later realizing that I was traveling a road that I didn’t want to get off of…” Nicole went on to study theatre at the University of Minnesota; she now works at Pillsbury House Theatre, serves on various Youth Serving and Arts Based Advisory Boards and teaches theatre arts, creative writing/poetry and arts literacy at Elementary, Middle and Senior level schools throughout the Metro Area.
Obtuse Crew is a performing dance crew that has been performing all over the Twin Cities since the summer of 2009. Our talent has been showcased at many events and venues including B96's Rip The Runway along side the New Boyz, 96-3 Fashion Now, B-Girl Be, The Minnesota Black Music Awards and others. We have already taken first place in three Hip Hop Competitions and are continuing to take Minnesota by storm.
'Praxis' B-Boy J-Sun is a full-time student at the University of Minnesota utilizing his 20+ years of experience as a participant in this Hip Hop discipline to create a degree: The B-Boy Movement within Hip Hop culture. This degree examines the theorization of and the discourse created by this dance form. He has been choreographing and instructing for 15 years, most currently located at Zenon Dance Company and School and The Cowles Center. His most recent performance was rated "Best Dance Performance in the Last Twelve Months" by City Pages. This group of youth is known as Praxis and is made up of gifted b-boys and b-girls from Patrick Henry High School in North Minneapolis. He is a member of BattleCatz, West Coast Rockers and Zulu Nation Chapter Spokesperson.
Project Pain. We have this insane idea to use our talents to help people. We use our gifts and abilities from God (whether you believe in him or not) to make a change. We impact places like homeless shelters, Haiti, and many other places of need. Some of the things we do are perform, sell clothes, and paint murals to raise money, food, and other goods to donate. We host shows and hope that people (like you) will be able to volunteer or perform at.
PYRO (Kelsey Van Ert) is from St. Paul/Minneapolis Minnesota. Her artistic interests lie in spoken word, theater, visual art, dance (b-girling aka “break dance”) and music including the piano, guitar, the cello and voice. In 2005, Pyro became involved in the Twin cities Hip-Hop community through writing and performing Spoken Word poetry with a group of other local youth and community leaders called Teens Rock The Mic and later with The Quest for the voice. She then became involved with Brave New Voices the largest annual international youth poetry slam where she competed with a team of youth poets from the twin cities in New York City in 2007 as well as in San Jose 2008. As a result of her hard work towards her craft, she was given a full scholarship from the University of Madison WI to be part of First Wave, a program geared towards Hip-Hop arts and community activism. Through First Wave she has been able to travel and perform in multiple locations throughout the U.S. as well as Mexico, Panama, and the United Kingdom.
Small Talk Dance Team.Jae Haile' Phillip's Small Talk Dance Team has members from all styles of dancing like Latin, Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, and Hip Hop. Jae Haile Phillips, Hanna Esparza-Kuluvar, Madeleine Weber, Giselle Mejia, and Eric Flores make up this dynamic team. SmallTalkINC.comis a company dedicated to getting Humans talking to each other again, so these brave souls will dance ANYWHERE to inspire others and Spread The Love! Love Y'all!
TISH JONES. Latisha “Tish” Jones is a Spoken word Artist, Activist, Educator, and Organizer based out of St. Paul, MN. Recognized for her work by local publications, Jones was named one of the City Pages “Artists of The Year” along with mention in the Star Tribune as an “Artist on the Verge” in 2007. In 2009, Jones received a VERVE grant for spoken word poets from Intermedia Arts. Co-producer and host of “Tha Remix” open mic series in north Minneapolis, Jones has performed on many stages, both locally and nationally as both an Independent Artist and as a member of a Minnesota state slam team in 2006. Also, the founder, executive, and artistic director of a developing non-profit arts organization, TruArtSpeaks, Jones teaches performance art and creative writing in schools throughout the Twin Cities area as well as in prisons and other facilities with youth programming.
Universal Dance Destiny (UDD) is a premier Dance Entertainment Company and School based in Minnesota. The company is dedicated to promoting diversity through a variety of dance genres. UDD's mission is to connect all communities and keep the universe movin' through the history, meaning, and movement of dance. We believe demonstrating the value of various dance forms fosters respect for different cultural groups. We strive to inspire individuals - especially youth - to discover their inner talent, confidence and style. For a long time Edna Stevens, owner and Artistic Director of UDD, noticed there were many groups performing traditional African Dance and Drumming, yet no one was performing the social African dance (including Soukous, Makossa, Mapouka, Ndombolo', Wolosso and Coupe'/Decale'. Edna now teaches and performs these very popular styles in order to bring true realism to the stages in order to represent African dance to the fullest. Edna was hired by Mixed blood Theater about a year ago to teach the cast and lead of the popular play "Ruined" how to dance the N'dombolo style from the Congo.
Up Mode is proud to be selected again for the B-Girl Be dance showcase. Our focus has been on creating fun pieces that include the fundamental elements of breakin’. This year we bring you “Shoe Business”, a battle for the freshest kicks. Laura “L-Kat” Mueller and Jessica “Mugsy” Schilling (Up Mode coordinators and dancers) have participated in numerous b-boy battles including Breakin’ the Law and Evolution 4. Laura teaches an after school breakin’ class at Ramsey IFAC in Minneapolis. Jessica teaches hip-hop and breakin’ at Ballare Teatro. She has also performed with local choreographers Jason Noer, Kaleena Miller, and Arturo Miles. Debra McGee (dancer) is a member of TU Dance and this is her 3rd year dancing in B-Girl Be. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College and is a teaching artist throughout the metro in dance genres ranging from ballet to Hip Hop. Erin Sheppard (dancer) is a local actor and choreographer. She teaches youth hip-hop classes at Zenon Dance School and Youth Performance Company. She has danced hip-hop and house styles in several variety shows at Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis. She is thrilled to be part of the 2010 B-Girl Be Carnival!
In 2006, Venus Fly Trap Crew became the first female all-styles crew to form in the U.S. underground street dance scene. VFT members, who each specialize in one or more of the original street-dance styles—popping, locking, breaking & house—include some of the most well-respected women in the underground street-dance scene today. They have “paid their dues” in the culture, spending many years (most members have over 10) training, cyphering, and battling their way up through the ranks. VFT members—Evil Lynn (Nashville, TN), Kadance (Dayton, OH), Pandora (Los Angeles, CA), Pringlz (Fort Wayne, IN), B-girl Teena-Marie (Pittsburgh, PA), and B-girl Vanicia (Nashville, TN) —have performed, taught, judged and won competitions all across the United States and abroad.