Streets of Funk (2017)
Streets of Funk was the debut evening-length performance by Funkadelic Hip-Hop Dance Company, a group I founded and artistically directed. This high energy, heart-filled show brought together the expressive roots of Hip-Hop, Funk, Stepping, and other Street and Club dances with the collaborative voices of youth, channeling rhythm as a form of protest, healing, and community connection. Drawing on the legacies of Afrika Bambaataa, James Brown, and the cultural heartbeat of the South Bronx and beyond, Streets of Funk was both a tribute to the revolutionary origins of these forms and a call to honor their continued impact. These young artists were my primary collaborators and the core performers in the creation of the work.
Under my direction, the show not only highlighted the technical and choreographic talents of emerging dancers but also reclaimed Hip-Hop culture as a site of joy, resistance, and community. Through collective movement, historical framing, video projection, original choreography, and powerful musical choices like Curtis Mayfield to Childish Gambino, the performance pulsed with themes of liberation, identity, and solidarity. Streets of Funk was a reminder that Hip-Hop is not a commercial commodity. It is a living, breathing culture of connection, a rhythm of survival, and a communal force of empowerment. This first production by the company stood as a love letter to the past and a bold step into the future of Hip-Hop and Street and Club dance.
