Hip Hop in Chile

The other part of my identity/studies that cannot be left out of the picture is my lifetime as a dancer, and now more specifically, a dancer part of hip hop culture. Before I left for Santiago, Chile, I told myself I was going to find the hip hop community to continue learning, training, and sharing. I began this search by reaching out to my hip hop professor at ASU, asking if he had any connections to the hip hop scene in Chile. He ended up asking a fellow crew mate over in Spain and this crewmate just so happened to know a bgirl in the city and he sent me her Instagram. That was all I needed to get my foot in the door.

I ended up messaging Valentina, via Instagram, making sure to translate my attempt at communication in Spanish. She was excited to share and said to let her know when I arrived in the city. Within the first two weeks, I was signed up for a breaking workshop led by Valentina and her crew of women breakers. This was my first experience in Chile with dance. From there, Valentina told me about a hip hop school called El Doyoh, owned and directed by a man called Nico Cancino. This particular guy had recently competed in the World Final of Red Bull's Dance Your Style compeition in South Africa. Talk about achievement!

I began taking classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for two hours each night in February all the way up until the end of April. There I learned several different styles of street dance and afro dances such as afro-house, dancehall, memphis jookin, and basic hip hop bounce/groove. However I spent most of my time there just freestyling and developing my musiciality and creativity. Alongside this training, I would also meet up in parks, on the street, in the metro station or at the GAM (Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center) to session and share. The best part about my time there was all the amazing people/dancers I got to meet along the way. It was beyond cool to exchange language, culture, ideas, and fun with the chilean youth who exuded the essence of hip hop culture and lifestyle. I felt very honored to have been accepted and welcomed so warmly into their spaces of community and that is something I will never forget.

It was also cool to see how a culture, born in the U.S. through diverse communities and histories has made its way onto the global stage and now occupies nearly all parts of the globe. I was able to pick up fast what was happening in the classes not only because dance is a universal, bodliy language, but also because they were almost speaking in Spanglish at times, utilizing several English vocabulary words specific to hip hop such as "bounce", "groove", "rhythm", "freestyle", to describe what it is we were doing. In many ways, I felt at home despite being in the Southern Hemisphere.

This experience not only spoke to the power of community, music, and dance, but also to a postive side of our globalizing world. Seeing how hip hop has embedded itself into Latin America, countries with painful pasts and present realities demonstrates the importance of having an outlet, an art form, expression, and community. All things that come together and work together to provide joy and hope amidst our chaotic, oppressive world for not only the youth, but for all people involved or touched by hip hop culture. Another cool aspect was seeing how hip hop has taken on its own, unique, original, Latino form in South American countries. Influences of their own unique experiences and culture can be seen in the music, fusion of dance styles or freestyle movement, and I would say overall intention and passion behind each movement and dancer.

Below is a short documentary I made for a dance film festival held back at ASU at the end of the spring semester that highlights my dear friend Valentian and her journey as a break-girl, amongst a sea of men who have historically dominated the style breaking. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XONDZ-uebTQ