Hip-Hop Ballet Empowers Kids

Brut America

One teaches, the other dances — both are using an infused ballet/hip-hop movement to inspire kids of all backgrounds to reach for the stars.

Transcript

00:00My daughter was born with cerebral palsy.

00:02When I would bring her to ballet class in her wheelchair,

00:05she would move her little fingers

00:07because she would hear the music.

00:09I would say to the kids,

00:11you see there? There's a dancer inside there.

00:13Don't ever tell me anything hurts.

00:16You have to tell me it's slightly uncomfortable

00:19because you know what?

00:21Life will be slightly uncomfortable.

00:23And that is why I do what I do.

00:30If you don't see yourself somewhere,

00:37what are you going to do?

00:39Especially if you don't feel like you can break that mold

00:41or break that glass ceiling,

00:43whatever you want to call it.

00:45If you don't see yourself,

00:47it's hard for you to try to insert yourself

00:49into a world that's kind of like,

00:51no.

01:01To get kids involved,

01:03I started to put rap and ballet together.

01:06Hip play is urban.

01:09It's a combination.

01:11It's a marriage.

01:13It's a blending of your hip hop,

01:15your Latino influence,

01:17and all the dances from your urban streets

01:19and the urban communities.

01:21So it's a blending of cultures,

01:23and people can relate to that.

01:25It's a feel-good thing.

01:30electronic music plays

01:39By the 11 years old,

01:41I learned that dance was for rich folks

01:43and predominantly white folks.

01:45If I did not have the opportunity

01:47to do what I'm doing now,

01:49and then the opportunity and the gift

01:51of giving back to kids,

01:53a lot of these kids

01:55wouldn't be in the situation they're in.

02:00electronic music plays

02:04A lot of us, you know,

02:06we train in ballet and we love it,

02:08but realistically, especially as black women,

02:10we're not going to get into a ballet company

02:12like that, you know?

02:14It's harder for us.

02:16So we kind of just found,

02:18we created a safe space for ourselves,

02:20pretty much, to experiment,

02:22see what we could do.

02:24electronic music plays

02:28We can do anything

02:30that we put our minds to,

02:32and especially through the discipline

02:34of dance for these kids.

02:36Coordination brings discipline.

02:38Coordination brings

02:40brain stimulation,

02:42brings high expectations.

02:44So it helps you to be

02:46the best that you can be.

02:48That's the thing about

02:50studying classical ballet.

02:52And the hiplet is so freeing

02:54that you have a sense of enjoyment

02:56and a sense of movement.

02:58We're changing lives here.

03:00Through the discipline of dance,

03:02we're making better human beings.

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