What is Hip-Hop 21C?

What is Hip-Hop 21C?

In February 2010, Moncell Durden (Philadelphia-based dancer, choreographer, educator, and dance historian) was invited as a guest artist to teach Hip-Hop dance at the Russian Dance Congress conference. It was at this conference that Moncell had the pleasure of meeting Prof. Alkis Raftis, the president of the International Dance Council (CID). After an engaging conversation on Hip-Hop dance culture, Prof. Alkis Rafits appointed Moncell Durden president of the first chapter in the United States that acknowledges Hip-Hop as America’s cultural heritage dance form. (CID recently helped Argentina claim Tango as their cultural heritage dance form.) CID is linked with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Upon Moncell’s knowledge and experience in Hip-Hop dance culture, he has been extensively studying Hip-Hop since 2001 via personal interviews with mentors, pioneers and scholars, scholarly journals, text, film, music, and linguistics. Through his studies he has drafted a teacher certification for current and future Hip-Hop dance educators. He has also drafted a Hip-Hop dance curriculum. Moncell’s studies have recently been acknowledged and supported by CID.

The program strives to illuminate personal and cultural dynamics of race and diversity in and through Hip-Hop dance. Hip-Hop 21C is in the initial stages of placing Hip-Hop dance in educational settings on a multitude of levels. In today’s generation, Hip-Hop has become an all-encompassing global lifestyle vastly influenced by media and societal events. This global spread has made a considerable impact on our public spheres, capturing our youth’s attention worldwide at the click of a button. Hip-Hop 21C strives to make a shift- shaping Hip-Hop culture as an educational tool to inspire, motivate, and empower students in and through Hip-Hop dance. We, the educators, pioneers, scholars, choreographers, dancers, and more… are responsible for providing our youth with positive experiences and opportunities that influence their future career and life decisions. By educating the youth in and through Hip-Hop dance, we expose and educate the myths/truths of race, diversity, aesthetic values, and fears. We use dance as an alternative to adaptability, flexibility, critical thinking and problem solving, self-direction and leadership, and productivity and accountability; all essential skills necessary for success in their 21^st century personal and professional lives.

The program is in the final stages of researching and designing Hip-Hop dance curriculums for K-12 arts education, K-12 physical education, private studio/community organization, and higher education. The program is also preparing to launch the teacher certification program, which focuses on enhancing and furthering the knowledge of Hip-Hop dance lineage, culture, history, movement technique, and music theory. This teacher training program will prepare educators to pass on this cultural heritage dance form to students, providing educators with an understanding of the cultural contexts in Hip-Hop history, theory, technique, and practice exercises in the forms and the social dances that created these forms. Pioneers, scholars, educators, students, dancers, and others who have interest in any or all of the following: Hip-Hop dance culture, dance education, arts education, physical education, anthropology, linguistics, cultural preservation, etc. we would like to invite you to be a part of the Hip-Hop 21C team, assisting us in recognizing Hip-Hop dance as one of America’s cultural heritage dance forms. If you’re interested in stepping forward with the program, whether it’s your verbal support, becoming a member, or volunteering/interning, please e-mail Danielle.m.aleman@temple.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.