"From the Streets to the Stage: An Evening of Hip-hop" (2022)
featured in photo: Caroline Wilson & Maleyah Nowell & Jennifer Meckley
featured dancers Lauren burns, Keith Smith, V Francis, Sarah Blackwell, & Lauren Taylor
Featured full cast
featured in photo: Caroline Wilson & Maleyah Nowell & Jennifer Meckley
From the Streets to the Stage was a full evening length production that explored bringing hip-hop culture to a formal context by incorporating dance, live Djing, graffiti, and MCing. The production presented African American vernacular dance styles such as Locking, Popping, Waacking, Breaking, Voguing, 90s Hip-hop, Social Dances, and current day hip-hop through a historical lens to demonstrate the influence of these styles on contemporary dance forms. Choreography by Jennifer Meckley and co-choreographer Keith Smith. Graffiti Artist Tori Bulick. Dancers: BSU students including Aaliyah Beatty, Sarah Blackwell, Tori Bulick, Lauren Burns, Katie Cole, Logan Cord, Taylor Fjellstrom, V Francis, Audrey Harrison, Zuri Jackson, Maleyah Nowell, Kiana Piercy, Minnie Rogers, Caelan Smith, Keith Smith, Jacob Stumpf, Lauren Taylor, Caroline Wilson, & Ashlyn Works. Photos by BSU Department of Theatre and Dance Kip Shawger.
"XY" (2020)
The music is “X” by Junior Vasquez and “Walk 4 Me” by Robbie Tronco. This was used for educational purposes and I do not own the rights to the music.
XY is a piece that is part of a larger production called "Intertextuality" choreographed along side Mya Ajanku and Ryan Johnson. This specific piece aims to bring the club to the concert stage through the incorporation of house dance, waacking, and vogue while also exploring the juxtaposition between these forms and breaking as it relates to our idea of masculinity and femininity through specific qualities of movement. The dancers are students from Ball State University and the photos and videos were taken by the BSU Theatre and Dance Department.
"Messe Messe" (2020)
The music is “Messe Messe (Afro Dub)” by Gregor Salto & Mokoomba. This was used for educational purposes and I do not own the rights to the music.
Messe Messe is a piece a part of a larger production called "Intertextuality" choreographed along side Mya Ajanku and Ryan Johnson. This piece explores the communal aspect of dance and references African vernacular aesthetics and house dance movements while exploring the relationship between physical embodiment, body percussion, and the music. Dancers include students from Ball State University and photography and videography by BSU theatre and dance department.
"A Long Way Away" (2018)
The music is “Long Way Away”, “The Breach”, and “All Black” by clipping. This was used for educational purposes and I do not own the rights to the music.
This is the beginning Jennifer's exploration of the issue of cultural appropriation, specifically within Black communities through the perspective of her and the dancers. Through music and movement, "A Long Way Away" combines hip-hop music and movement to explore the various approaches to presenting street culture on a concert stage. The movement is inspired by various modern dance and hip-hop movement techniques through an abstract lens focusing on the initiation and intention of the movement. This is an excerpt of a longer piece. The amazing dancers are Slippery Rock University students and photography is by Ben Viatori.
"My Hat Instead of Myself" (2015)
The music is “Spaceman” by Hardwell. This was used for educational purposes and I do not own the rights to the music.
"My Hat Instead of Myself" puts movement invention at the forefront through the fusion of modern dance and hip-hop techniques. The content of the piece was inspired by embodying the different movement qualities of house, vogue, and b-boying and how this translates to our embodiment of the clothes we wear. Putting on the hat transforms our personaes. Awesome dancers in the video are West Chester University students Darius Johnson, Morgan Miller, Courtney Byrne, Veronica Aten and Jennifer Meckley. Photos and video provided by Doug West Photography.
"Run, Sinnerman, Run" (2014)
The music is “Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat’s Heavenly House Mix)” by Nina Simone & Felix the Housecat. This was used for educational purposes and I do not own the rights to the music.
The overall theme of this piece aims to present the connection between hip-hop dance, modern dance, and theatre forms through the fusion of street dance and modern dance techniques and the incorporation of spoken word. The inspiration for content was inspired by the rapper Watsky and his rap "Tiny Glowing Screens pt. 2" and how we can feel alone in a world of many people. The awesome dancers are West Chester University students. The photos and videos were provided by Doug West Photography.