Jessica Koslow

Amy “B-girl CatFox” Campion with Emiko Sugiyama

J.U.i.C.E. is not your ordinary hip-hop dance show. The annual one-nighter is more like a showcase of works in progress covering a variety of hip-hop-inspired dance styles, from old school lockin’ to new school krumping. The common thread that runs through all of the pieces is passion; and the celebration of peace. While the non-profit arts organization J.U.i.C.E. (Justice by Uniting in Creative Energy) pushes peace year-round, this event is specifically dedicated to the concept in the themes of the dance and emcee performances and call and response of the host D. Sabela Grimes. “When I say peace, you say peace.” “Peace.” “Peace.”

At its core, tonight’s hip-hop fest is about the kids. It might seem ironic that a dance form obsessed with battling can provide the foundation for community unity. But this is exactly what J.U.i.C.E. encourages. The fest’s performances are fun, gimmicky and brimming with creative costumes from superheroes to comic book characters. Oftentimes the visuals overpower the dance, confirming that the show’s producers are well aware of the short attention span of their largely young audience. The crowd (parents, too) seems delighted by the imaginative outfits of Buddha Stretch, Westbound and Antics Performance, and the cutesy skits of Baby Boogaloo and his mini b-boy crew.

A few of the groups rise above the kiddie culture. Host D. Sabela Grimes, who subtly shows off some of the best moves of the night, succeeds at appealing to both young and old. Serving as a bridge between the generations, he flirts with those who know what flirting looks like, and cool to all the rest with his big, gold Vlado kicks. But the hugest highlight of the evening appears in the middle of the second act. Four fellows, Shiyoshi featuring Kiminari and Kairi, boogie to the beat, showing off poppin’, lockin’, breakin’ and straightforward hip-hop choreography. Fluid and fierce, the rhythms direct their bodies as if the two entities (beat and body) are in intimate conversation. As part of the night’s promise of peace, Kiminari and Kairi will deliver 1,000 Origami cranes that the audience makes to the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan, on Oct 7.

One act that impresses every year with their incredulous feats of physical strength, flexibility and grace is Lux Aeterna. Led by Jacob “Kujo” Lyons, the co-artistic director of the J.U.i.C.E. fest, the five seemingly non-human men and women balance on each other’s body parts, lift each other in jaw-dropping formations and wind and twist around each other like ripped ninjas. It’s slow, still movement that broadly interprets what hip-hop, or dance for that matter, is. Rather, it rests in its own locomotive universe somewhere between gymnastics, weightlifting and rock climbing. Amy “CatFox” Campion, the other co-artistic director of the J.U.i.C.E. fest, stands out in her Antics Performance troupe, as she does in any group, as the badass, tiny, hard-rock dynamo who can b-boy with the best of them. She hides herself in a massive swirl of motion, lost in a blockbuster fight sequence in which the whole overpowers the individuals, who each bring their own unique set of skills to the floor.

The Versa-Style Dance Company looks like they are having the most fun. Swinging to a song and style they call home, they smile with their feet and play with each other like they’ve been doing it for years. Simply dressed and round-the-way looking, they make synchronizing a funky bunch look easy, when you know it’s not. The motley crew is the perfect wrap-up for the show.

J.U.i.C.E. shows kids that dancing is a creative outlet that’s fun to watch, but even more fun to do, every Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at MacArthur Park Recreational Center. There the youth can decide: To B or not to B-boy.

Article on USC’s Neon Tommy

I love it – now that I am “officially” studying dance people are sending me interesting videos. Like in the previous videos I posted with classical music playing, I don’t like this song particularly (dubstep?), but I can see that the rhythm and beats are perfectly in sync with the dancer’s body movements. It’s as if his body and the song are each instruments in an orchestra, matching up to create a magical composition. Like in the Dancing in the Rain video I posted below, I am amazed at how easy this dancer makes what he’s doing look, but how incredibly hard it actually is. Many of the street dancers I admire have no official training. They just practice and perfect their skills on their own. It just comes natural…

Here’s another dance video that caught my attention. A dance professor/activist I really respect posted it, so I knew I had to take a peek. The featured dancer has amazing body control, but it’s the way he combines classical dance with a more contemporary street style, some form of krumping/popping/etc., that excites me. The hybrid reinforces my like of classical when it’s modernized with some form of street style.

One of my goals while studying at USC is to focus on street dance. I have been a hip-hop dancer for about 15 years and a hip-hop journalist for almost as many. My love of hip-hop music has been unwavering but not until this year did I realize I could shift my critical focus from covering the music to chronicling aspects of the dance. Which brings me to this YouTube clip. For me, krumping or buck dancing has always been associated with adults. Rarely, if ever, have I seen youngsters move with such passion and precision. Since I dance myself and have recently taken a krumping class, I can personally attest to the difficulty of this style.

Building on my visceral love of street dance, I am also attending a seminar called “Black Popular Culture,” which will provide me with an academic lens to view the culture of street dance. After only two week’s worth of readings from this course, I am faced with questions, such as: Are these types of popular culture dances reinforcing positive/negative stereotypes of blacks? What societal factors influence these dances, and how do these dances reflect the larger society?

Parked car on Jefferson

I recently saw this car as I was driving down Jefferson and I had to stop, get out and snap a photo with my phone. I never do this. That’s how awesome I think this car is. I’m not crazy about the green and silver combination of colors, but considering it’s a car I can’t blame the owner for choosing not-too-alarming colors. Actually, I love green. What I like most about the car’s design is that it covers the entire body of the car, even the inside metal of the tires are green. It’s graffiti-inspired and conjures up gritty thoughts of sewers, boogeymen, monsters and goblins. I like that it’s grimy and feels like it might be the getaway car of a villain, possibly the Green Goblin.

Homeboy Industries is the largest gang-rehabilitation center in the U.S. Former gang member Robert Amado was released from prison just over one month ago after serving 14 years. When he went in, his daughter, Selena Marie Amado, was two. Now she is 16.

Homeboy Industries deals with many of the issues a person encounters when released from prison while transitioning to their new free life (a.k.a. re-entry), including tattoo removal, job training and parenting skills. My L.A. Story Project touches on the parenting topic from the POVs of Robert and Selena Marie; i.e., being a father when you didn’t have a good role model, the difficulties of re-entering your child’s life when you’ve been absent and coping without a father. Continue reading →

Working Title: Homeboys Get Their Groove Back

Log Line: Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the U.S., helps ease a prisoner’s transition back into his/her community (i.e., re-entry) by providing services and classes like tattoo removal, anger management, GED, AA and more.

The focus of my story is the process of re-entry. In today’s economy it’s hard enough to gain employment. Prisoners are at an even greater disadvantage because they have a police record and most have tattoos and lack education. They often have psychological problems and the bad habits of their past must be broken. Sometimes even associating with old friends and family members can be a violation of their parole, if those people are gang affiliated. In light of these pressures, plus the additional new responsibilities of everyday life, it’s easy to see why a high percentage of ex-inmates end up back in prison. It would seem that a missing — but logical — step is the creation/existence of programs to help prisoners transition into mainstream society. That’s where Homeboy Industries is gaining huge ground and making a name for itself. They offer assistance in all areas of life, from yoga and Baby & Me classes to job training and career development. People are visiting Homeboy from all over the world to learn about their program.

I want to speak with one or more people who illustrate the fact that being helped with re-entry is the key to them staying out of prison. How does homeboy help, pragmatically, emotionally and psychologically? What are the hurdles the Homeboys face when re-entering their communities? What are the thoughts going through their heads when they first get out of prison? Does it seem easy to get caught up and sent back to prison? If possible, I also want to explore the idea of having to comply with society’s rules. I am assuming many of these ex-prisoners are rule breakers. How does it feel to abide by the rules? Is it easy? Or is it tough to try to be a “good” citizen? There are a bunch of classes meeting on Thursday when we visit Homeboy. One is anger management. I would be extremely interested to sit in and hear what the participants have to say. Many are probably angry they were in prison and angry they are having trouble upon release. And most may have been angry before they were arrested. Does anger management  play a big role in re-entry? I also think it would be fascinating to observe the yoga and physical training classes. Not only to see homeboys doing yoga but also to ask how they feel about the concept of space and body movement. Did being in prison make them think differently about their bodies, space and movement?

My stylistic approach is that of an observer. I will do face-on interviews but also try to catch people in their element, such as in the anger management and yoga classes. I will weave interviews with b-roll of the activities in the bustling Homeboy building and the classes to tell the story of the challenges people face when re-entering society. My point of view is from the homeboy’s/girl’s perspective.

I think this is a hot topic right now because California has the highest recidivism rate in the country. Also, on May 24, 2011, the Los Angeles Times wrote that, “The court gave the state two years to shrink the number of prisoners by more than 33,000.” Many people agree that the logical way to accomplish this is by reducing the recidivism rate and assisting with re-entry.  While some people view Homeboy as a drain on resources, it’s hard to deny their success stories.

The story of re-entry could be aided by visual statistics, possibly facts written over an image of the Homeboy building, etc., in the background. The facts that stand out to me are:

* California has the highest recidivism rate in the country.

*  “The court gave the state two years to shrink the number of prisoners by more than 33,000.” Los Angeles Times

* 700,000 prisoners re-enter U.S. society each year. About 1/2 of those released in the U.S. will be locked up again within three years.

* One in every 53 American adults is either on probation or parole.

* 75% of prisoners under 24 return to incarceration.

UPDATE: After today’s pitch session and meeting with my adviser I am thinking about switching gears to the Baby & Me class on Friday morning. This topic seems especially important because many of the participants may not have had parents around and/or may have been locked up for part/all of their kid’s life. Focusing on good parenting skills might also break the cycle of absentee and neglectful parents. Celeste gave us this statistic: One in every 28 children in the U.S. has a parent behind bars. This story would also have impactful visuals.