Hip Hop and Hoops
Company:
Chen Dance Center
The Chen Dance Center presents
HIP HOP & HOOPS: AN INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCE
led by Native American artist Frank Waln
Friday & Saturday, November 8 & 9 at 7:30 PM
Chen Dance Center, 70 Mulberry Street (corner of Mulberry & Bayard)
Tickets: $12; $10 for students & seniors
Reservations: 212.349.0126
Electronic music and hip-hop meet traditional Native American music and dance in "Hip Hop & Hoops: An Indigenous Experience," directed by Lakota artist Frank Waln, November 8 & 9 at 7:30 PM. Waln leads artists in their telling of stories through Hip Hop, electronic music, and traditional Native American music and dance. Presented by the Chen Dance Center, 70 Mulberry Street in New York's Chinatown. This unique project is supported by the First People's Fund and the Ford Foundation through a grant from the FPF Our Nation's Spaces Grant Program.
Frank Waln was born into the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and grew up on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Now a resident of Chicago, attending Columbia College, Waln is a First Peoples Fund 2012 Artist in Business Leadership Fellow. The fellowship, which was renewed this year, has helped the 24-year old connect with artists, audiences, and organizations across the United States that he would not otherwise have found.
Chen Dance Center is one of the lucky organizations that will have a week-long workshop by Waln, starting November 3 and culminating in the November 8 & 9 public performances. The association of Waln and Chen Dance Center was a happy connection from the outset, despite their different cultures, inspiring Waln to remark "It was almost like I found a lost Tribe of mine!"
For Chen Dance Center, Associate Director Dian Dong is excited about offering this very special gift at the Center. Dong notes that this will be a remarkable experience for her students, many of whom do not leave their Chinatown community often and will gain much from this experience. "They have an interest to learn and study," she noted, "but hip-hop is not a long-standing tradition in our community. This is a largely immigrant community. They don't leave the area... and this project will really open their eyes and broaden their horizons."
November 8th is a special day for Chen Dance Center, which is the home of H.T. Chen and Dancers, the very busy Chen Dance Center school, and the theater, which is used for Chen Dance Center performances and rented to outside dance companies for their New York seasons. The day will also include
** a dedication of the Center's newly renovated facilities at 70 Mulberry Street; and
** their participation in the American Dance Guild's program, 8 PM at the 92nd Street Y. One of the custodians of the works of Remy Charlip, H.T. Chen and Dancers will perform Charlip's "Contra Dances."
www.chendancecenter.org
More About Frank Waln:
The 23-year old Hip Hop artist/producer/performer, is a Lakota Native American, raised on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. He is a Gates Millennium Scholar, currently studying Audio Design and Production at Columbia College in Chicago. Frank gives a strong voice to the voiceless by using his voice, music and performance to address the media's negative portrayal of Native Americans and to overcome the self-oppression that exists in many Lakota communities. His Awards include: two-time Native American Music Award Winner (Best Producer in 2010, Best Rap/Hip Hop Recording 2011); winner of the 2011 Rockwired Radio Music Award for Best Group; winner of Rockwired Radio's Artist of the Month for December 2012; recipient of the 2011 Howard Yackus Memorial Scholarship Award from the National Indian and Native American Employment and Training Conference. He is also a well-known speaker at Universities, Music Awards events, the 2012 Lakota Nation Invitational, and many more.
