Breaking Boundries The Massive Monkees are a renowned break dancing crew known for their performances, community involvement, and dedication to the art form. “Breaking Boundaries” is a program, that focuses on youth development and empowerment through breaking. The program aims to provide a positive environment for young people to learn, grow, and express themselves through...
Elaine Gomez is a prominent figure within the digital works community, and co-founder of Latinx in Gaming. As a Latina, she has lived experience within the games industry, is an independent Unity developer and games educator. Through her presentation, she plans to connect cultural appreciation and representation in games and other digital works. In her...
Players Club was established by Edward L. Nelson. Immediately after the team was created, The Players won 20 out of 22 Live at the Apollo championships in a time span of two years. During their sudden rise in popularity, Players began an outreach to the community to save lives of students and struggling teens. In this process, the definition of Players was born: Participate...
Eric Hernandez is a renowned Native American hoop dancer who has dedicated his life to breaking stereotypes and embracing his cultural identity. Eric shares his personal journey of overcoming fear and the pressure to conform by showcasing his hoop dance, a traditional healing ceremony. Through mesmerizing demonstrations, he challenges misconceptions and invites the audience to...
For the past several years, Tulengua has made a name for themselves in the underground hip-hop scene. In hip hop’s landscape, few voices standout like Tulengua, a bilingual, binational and multiracial supergroup out of San Diego. Tulengua’s music features live instrumentation and sampling from a variety of genres such as hip-hop, psychedelic, progressive rock, soul,...
It would be unsurprising to find people talking fondly in years to come on how lucky they were to see OommoO, before Lula Mebrahtu took to the stratosphere. Created, and performed by Ethiopian migrant Lula Mebrahtu, aka Eclipse award and Oram award-winning musician LULA.XYZ, OommoO, stands alone., it defies easy classification. An expansion of her earlier...
Danny Simmons is bringing together the original cast of Def Poetry Jam for a Special Def Poetry Reunion Tour! This epic evening of creativity features Tony, Peabody, and Emmy Award-winning spoken word artist Black Ice, along with nationally known artists Ursula Rucker, Jessica Care Moore, Kayo Charles, and Elisabeth Vasquez. This performance benefits the Mariposa...
Samba New York! is a leading organization in NYC dedicated to Brazilian samba culture, offering shows, drumming classes, and guided music trips to Brazil. The Estado de São Paulo, one of Brazil’s most prominent newspapers, recently praised Samba New York! as “the most famous and active ‘school of samba’ in New York City.” Inspired by...
Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh are founding members of the spoken word group Yellow Rage, a dynamic duo of Philly-based Asian American female spoken word poets. Yellow Rage gained international attention when they performed critically-acclaimed HBO television series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry. Celebrated for their high energy and engaging performances, Catzie and Michelle have...
Poet, actor, and performing artist Staceyann Chin is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir The Other Side of Paradise, co-writer and original performer in the Tony Award–winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and author of the one-woman shows Hands Afire, Unspeakable Things, Border/Clash, and MotherStruck. She has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey...
