BDF X CRĀV

Shakia Barron
Shakia “The Key” Barron is a choreographer, performer, and dance educator whose work is rooted in the African Diaspora, focusing on Hip-Hop, House and other African diasporic dance forms. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at Mount Holyoke College and Artistic Director of her own project-based dance company, Kia the Key & Company. She graduated with her MFA in Choreography at Wilson College, she holds an Associate’s degree in dance and psychology from Dean College, a Bachelor’s in liberal arts from Westfield State University, and she received the National Dance Institute’s teaching artist certificate in 2009. She is an alum of Bates Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, and Pioneer Valley’s Performing Arts Charter School.

Barron has choreographed and directed more than 50 Hip-Hop, modern, African and lyrical works that have been performed at Trenton Educational Dance Institute, Rider University, the Princeton School of Ballet, Bates Dance Festival and Jacob’s Pillow. She has performed for numerous Hip-Hop events and has opened for concerts by Fat Joe, Jadakiss, 112, Charlie Baltimore, and Kima from “Total” and Omarion. In 2005, she choreographed a Hip-Hop number for the Celtics/NBA half-time show. Barron has toured nationally and internationally, dancing with Face Da Phlave Entertainment, Illstyle and Peace Productions, and as a guest artist with Rennie Harris PureMovement. 

As a dance educator, Barron spent many years teaching at the Bates Dance Festival and taught community classes at Jacob’s Pillow. Barron is a DEL(Dance Education Laboratory) faculty member who has facilitated multiple professional development workshops around the integration of Hip-Hip dance and history in the curriculum. Barron was the 2019 Arthur Levitt Jr. ’52 Artist-in-Residence at Williams College. She is also a recent recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award from Bates Dance Festival. Prior to joining Mount Holyoke College Dance Department as a full-time tenure track faculty, she served as an adjunct at UMASS Amherst, Smith, Amherst and Connecticut colleges.

Michele Bryd-McPhee
A 2023 Bessie Award winner for Outstanding Service to the Field, Michele Byrd-McPhee is a street dancer, an arts activist and tireless advocate for girls and women who has been working for decades to re-contextualize spaces and conversations about Hip-Hop culture along gender, sex, cultural, socio-historical and racial lines. Her work situates Black dance forms, theories, dance techniques and the value of the lived artistic experience, in spaces that honor and acknowledge cultural roots along with the many creative pioneers who have shaped them. This is especially important given the ways in which Black dance has been co-opted, appropriated without acknowledgement to its community cultural origins.

Awarded the 2020 Integrated Arts Residency Fellowship at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Byrd-McPhee created and taught her course “Hip-Hop, Women and the World”.  She has also served as a grant panelist for the prestigious McKnight Foundation, DanceNYC, and served as a voting member of the  Bessie Award Committee. 

Most recently, in partnership with SNIPES USA, Michele opened New York’s only woman-led, woman-owned and women-focused street dance & arts space. With the  LOHH x SNIPES partnership Byrd-McPhee is literally and figuratively flipping the dance world on its head! Historically, there has been a hierarchy in dance where ballet and forms derived from ballet are atop the global “ladder of dance”; receiving priority in resources, access and in what and who is presented and taught. The LOHH X SNIPES Studio space is dedicated to street and club dance forms. In this space we have been able to present events, provide rehearsal space and classes for communities that are normally forgotten and systematically excluded from traditional dance spaces. 

Presently, Byrd-McPhee is relishing her roles as a performer and production manager for The Jazz Continuum, along with her 20-year commitment as Executive Director for Ladies of Hip-Hop and artistic director of LDC (LOHH Dance Collective).

Duane Lee Holland Jr.
Holland began his professional dance career at the age of 17, dancing for the first Hip-Hop theater dance company, Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM); he was later named Assistant Artistic Director of the company. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Dance (Magna Cum Laude), with a focus in Choreography, from the University of Iowa.

Throughout his career, Holland has been a pioneer in bringing Hip-Hop to college dance programs. He became the first full-time Hip-Hop professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2016, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019. The University of Massachusetts Amherst Dance Program welcomed new faculty member Duane Lee Holland, Jr. in the fall 2022.   

Holland has had the privilege of working with choreographers Bill T. Jones (We Shall Not Be Moved), Garth Fagin (The Lion King, original Broadway cast), Ronald K. Brown (Evidence).  He was also assistant choreographer/dance captain and featured dancer in Maurice Hines’ Broadway production of Hot Feet.  In 2010, he released his first independent R&B/Hip-Hop music project, Life Expansion, and his second project, Love-n-Life, featuring songs from his one-man show, The Adventures of Maxx Lancaster, was released in March, 2021, with a premiere planned for 2023.

For many years, Holland has been conducting community outreach programs with his Arts and Education organization, CRĀV (Cultivating Revolutionary Artistic Virtuosity), in the suburban Philadelphia area, as well as in conjunction with select universities across the nation.

Jackie “Miss Funk” Lopez
Jackie “Miss Funk” Lopez is a first-generation Latina Los Angeles native. Jackie graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA’s Dept. of World Arts and Cultures, with a concentration in Dance in 2004. Miss Funk found her love for Hip Hop/Streetdance since the late 90’s and her movement and historical content that she teaches is reflective of her personal experience as a teacher,professional dancer, choreographer, and participant/practitioner in Hip Hop and Streetdance culture, in which she has trained extensively and has served for over 25 yrs.

Some of her accomplishments are; First Latina Woman to teach and build the Hip Hop/Streetdance curriculum at the University of Los Angeles (UCLA) 2009 – present, a recipient of the Lester Horton Artist Appreciation Award presented by the Dance Resource Center Los Angeles and recipient of the Hip Hop Impact Achievement Award presented by Ladies of Hip Hop. Most recently, Miss Funk served as Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. through the Arts Envoy Cultural Exchange Program to teach and choreograph at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv, Israel. As part of the 3-week residency, Miss Funk was the first woman of color to choreograph a full Hip Hop/Streetdance piece, while also teaching the history of Hip Hop/Streetdance culture.

Furthermore, Miss Funk has gained respect by entering and judging several popular battle events, such as; All Styles Judge for Freestyle Session Los Angeles (2014, 2017 & 2019), Popping Judge for Ladies of Hip-hop NYC and the first woman judge for Cypher Connection in Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Most notably, Miss Funk is the Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of Versa-Style Dance Company (VSDC), a certified 501 (c) (3) non-profit Hip Hop/Streetdance organization founded in 2005. VSDC’s mission is two-fold; they are a professional touring Hip Hop dance company providing dancers from the inner city the tools to thrive as full dance professionals, while also providing arts programing to the youth in underserved communities in Los Angeles. Versa-Style Dance Company are recipients of the New England Foundation for the Arts (National Dance Project) and have performed at prestigious theaters such as the Joyce Theater in NYC, The Ford Amphitheater in LA and Jacob’s Pillow in MA. Lastly, The Red Bulletin (Red Bull Magazine) featured Versa-Style Dance Company as “Heroes of the Year” in 2019, highlighting their commitment to elevating and celebrating Hip Hop/Streetdance Culture in Los Angeles.

Lastly, Miss Funk is fascinated by the diverse and rich African-American and Latinx traditions of the past, while simultaneously presenting the voice of a new generation through its ever-evolving interpretations of dance. Most importantly, she is committed to providing our world with a sincere view of the essence and spirit of Hip Hop/Streetdance rather than the commercially exploited stereotypes portrayed by the media.

Daniel “DJ DP One” Pinero
Daniel “DJ DP One” Pinero aka “The Blessing” is a leading New York-based club deejay, whose ability to play multi-genre sets has earned him international recognition. As an original member of the Heavy Hitters and founder of the Turntable Anihilists, DP is adaptable enough to rock a downtown Manhattan club one night, fly to Japan the next day for a gig at super Club Ageha and then DJ a wedding in India!

Clubs / Private Events
At the age of 14, the Brooklyn-born DP One started out deejaying house parties. From there he progressed to spinning at legendary venues such as Roseland, Skate Key and prominent nightclubs including Santos Party House, Le Poisson Rouge, BB King’s, 40/40, Whiskey Blue and Apt. 78. Recently, DP has been playing at NYC hotspots including Lucky Strike, The DL, 1 Oak and Avenue to Magic City and Soul of Sydney in Australia. He continues to be in demand spinning for reputable organizations such as Christian Dior, GameStop and MOMA. Spinning Top 40, Hip-Hop, R&B, EDM, Reggae, Deep House, Soca, Rock, Classics, Breakbeats, Freestyle, Funk, Latin and more, along with his aggressive style, makes DP’s sets both exciting and versatile.

Tours
Originally, as a DJ for underground favorites, J-Live and Wordsworth, DP completed tours of Europe, South Africa and in 35 States across America. He has toured globally with iconic artists such as Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Estelle and Immortal Technique. He has also performed extensively at Colleges and Universities, appearing at close to 30 schools in the U.S. 

Radio / Stage / Theatre / Television / Studio
DP has recently spun live on WBLS and HOT97, two of NYC’s top radio stations. He has performed in Broadway plays Soular Power’d and NY Hip Hop Legends at the New Victory Theatre and at Chicago’s Harris Theatre for the production, Imagine Tap. He recently had the honor of performing at the world famous Apollo Theater for Jonzi D’s Freestyle Funk Forum. He was featured on MTV with Def Jam recording artist Teyana Taylor, and appeared on the PBS channels for a Bailey’s Tour special with John Legend & artists signed to his label, HomeSchool Records. Being a recording artist himself, DP has performed scratches on albums from Hip-Hop luminaries; Jadakiss and Immortal Technique.

Dance Competitions
Representing the Universal Zulu Nation and Supreme Beings, DP deejayed the Red Bull BC One’s first North America battle in 2009 and their Chicago qualifier in 2013. DP has held down the decks at notable battles like Braggin’ Rites, B-Boy Massacre, Kings Of NY, Skill Methodz Anniveraries, Evolution, The B-Boy Hoedown, Juste Debout, Freestyle Session East Coast Qualifier and Step Ya Game Up. In addition he has made annual trips to Peru, Japan and Australia to spin for multiple dance competitions.

Dedication
DP One’s creativity and ability to entertain large crowds with his cross-genre sets, makes him one of music’s most diverse, captivating and innovative performers of today. His experiences in deejaying across the globe allow him to approach each event with a level of expertise that only a select few have acquired. He contributes to the art of deejaying by teaching the fundamentals of mixing and scratching throughout NYC.

Buddha Stretch
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York with three sisters and one younger brother, Stretch was influenced by his dad Emilio Austin, Sr. His Dad danced as a youth and provided Stretch with discipline, inspiration, support and motivation and remained by his side to guide him throughout his career. This foundation carries Stretch, a father himself, throughout his personal and professional career today. Stretch heavily impacted the dance world by bridging the gap between what was termed, Ol! Skool and New Skool. His dance style, known as Freestyle Hip-Hop draws from all aspects of Hip-Hop culture, music and dance. These moves during the early days of music videos helped to launch the popularity of dance in this medium, as well as live shows. Stretch!s first audition was for The Dance Theater of Harlem however, he left after seeing dancers in leotards and tights. His first video was with Eric B & Rakim, Eric B for President. He met the members of his first dance crew Mop Top at a music video audition they booked for Diana Ross, Working Overtime. They began to hang out at New York!s night spot, The Tunnel, and later formed their crew. He later formed a crew called Elite Force who appeared in documentaries, music videos, live shows and in countless projects overseas. His first choreography job was for Joeski Love (Pee Wee Dance) and went on to work with the likes of Rosie Perez, Will Smith in the Men In Black and Miami videos; Michael Jackson!s Remember The Time video (his most memorable experience) and more. He was nominated for two MTV Awards for “Best Choreography! for the Will Smith videos Men In Black, Gettin! Jiggy Wit It, and Miami. Recent credits include choreography for Virgin recording artist Thalia (on Good Morning America), Aida, Tony Award Winner, Heather Headley, Hot !97 Air Personality, Angie Martinez and rapper Rah Diggah. In 1989, Stretch was the first Hip-Hop dancer to teach Hip-Hop in a mainstream dance studio – New York!s Broadway Dance Center. Stretch is no stranger to music. An MC and writer himself, he recorded an underground hit called It Don!t Matter by Ten Thieves and continues to make music today. His versatility is also displayed by his participation as a dancer and contributing choreographer for the Dance Theater crew Full Circle, and Co-Artistic Director of the Dance Theatre Company MiddleGround. His trend setting style keeps him in demand as a choreographer, dancer, teacher and performer. His passion for dance is exhibited every time you experience his work. Stretch believes “music is the universal language; dance is its interpreter.” 

YNOT
Anthony Denaro, aka YNOT, explores the design, sustainability, history, and community of Hip Hop. With a futurist mindset, YNOT’s work manifests in dance, typography, music, and architecture. He has mainly participated, researched and competed in the dance form of Breaking for over 25 years. Dance in his life serves as a catalyst for inspiration, for creating awareness of movement and self-expression, and allowing for investigation within other artistic mediums. In YNOT’s vision of the sustainability of Hip Hop, teaching and mentorship are paramount. He believes education allows us to better understand the world in which we live. Through education, we become thoughtful about what happens around us. It is the most powerful weapon. Alongside his dance and professorship, YNOT both physically and digitally creates two and three dimensional art pieces that construct a possible future of the Hip Hop aesthetic.