On Friday night I attended the 11th annual San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest, with my mom and dear hooper sister Shakti Sunfire. The SF Hip Hop Dance Fest is a live theater show, split into two programs, showcasing hip hop dance companies, troupes, and crews from around the world. I was blown away by Friday's program; the dancing was diverse, it was innovative, it was suprising. I enjoyed watching a variety of dance styles be expressed before me, ranging from hip hop and breaks with the integration of contemporary, ballet, jazz, and even tap! Hats off to the dancers...Major kudos for an impressive and inspiring show.
Although the show is split into Program A (shown on Fri. and Sun.) and Program B (shown on Sat. and Sun.), I only purchased tickets for the Friday show. But it left me wanting more. So on a last minute whim on Sunday evening at about 6:15, Ken and I decided to go to the 7pm showing of Program B. I was particularly interested in seeing Soul Force (Micaya's dance compay), Funkanometry (another SF dance crew), and B-Boy Spaghetti (a breakdancer from Norway).
Spaghetti was hands-down phenomenal. You can check out his (really long) demo video HERE. I'm definitely adding breaking to my list of movement interests, and am seeking a teacher to have some breakdance classes at Movement Play in June (yes!).
I left both shows feeling grateful to live in the San Francisco Bay Area when there is a large and amazing hip hop dance scene. This weekend I got a small taste of how inclusive hip hop can be. This showcase exhibited dancers of all shapes, sizes, colors, and dance backgrounds. Short dancers, tall dancers, chubby dudes and ladies, muscley girls and guys, dark skin, light skin, Latinos, Asians, and more... It was incredibly pleasant to experience so many types of people in one place all there in the spirit of celebrating hip hop dance.
I highly recommend checking out next year's show.
