Giving the Gift of Dance: Hip Hop Fundamentals
Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.
That’s what they say at least. But in reality, it’s rare we find people actually pursuing their true passion day in and day out, genuinely happy-as-hell to be doing what they’re doing.
Mark and Steve are two of those “rarities.” They do what they love, and they are all heart.
Mark Wong and Steve Lunger are the super motivated, super motivating co-founders of Hip Hop Fundamentals. With help from a high school teacher, Adam Troisi, the organization aims to bring hip hop into schools in the Philadelphia area, using break-dancing as a vehicle for engaging, exciting education. The group offers an assembly that focuses primarily on hip hop itself, but they also assemblies on the Civil Rights Movement and Physics, all delivered through hip hop movement. What a fascinating, high-energy, different way to learn history and science…
I met with Mark and Steve, and for my first question I feigned my best policy-maker voice and challenged them, “Why waste time on the arts in school?”
Well, the question wasn’t really a challenge for them at all.
Mark and Steve, like many other Americans today, are concerned with the state of education in our country. Rightfully so, I believe. On their website, they comment on our very own community; in Philadelphia, recent studies state that one of five Philadelphians are illiterate. One in Five.
In an article written by Mark Wong about his mission, he poignantly explains,
“Our education system functions as a very fine sieve that supports a select few and lets the rest - everyone who doesn’t flourish within its specific, highly controlled learning environment — pour down the drain. This tradition effectively bars millions of young people from learning. In so doing, it disempowers them and perpetuates systems of poverty, bigotry, and oppression that dehumanize the very individuals our education systems are supposed to support.”
Ok. So we’ve clearly got a problem. But, how is art the solution?
Steve started, “Art enriches life” and went on to explain that putting “the arts” in schools doesn’t replace academic education, it supports academic education.
“Kids learn differently,” Mark added. Some students don’t learn by sitting in a seat, memorizing facts, and switching subjects as a bell rings every 45 minutes. Some students need to move, they need to feel, they need to interact in order to learn. According to the Hip Hop Fundamentals mission statement, youth learn best when they are “engaged,” when they can “relate to the material,” and when “they are having fun.” As a 7th grade teacher, I couldn’t agree more.
Before asking why hip hop? I had to rewind, and ask what is hip hop?
“It’s regional. It’s youth-defined. And it’s relevant,” said Mark. That’s why it works so well in schools.
There are obviously lots of different styles within the label “hip hop.” My own personal introduction to hip hop was the 25-middle-school-girls-dancing-to-Madonna-remixes-in-a-dance-studio. And while Mark was genuinely adamant that there’s nothing wrong with that type of hip-hop, his organization focuses on break dancing. Mark defined breaking as “Social, in a circle, thirty seconds, stand up, go to the floor, get out.” Mark and Steve never stepped foot in a studio to learn break dancing. This is typical of break dancers, and reflects the soul of break dancing. I loved hearing this because it also reflects the basis of this website, “Everyone can dance.”
Mark and Steve carry that belief with them as they create space and opportunities for Philadelphia youth to break dance with them. The structure of their organization rests on the “Youth Teaching Youth” framework, in which Hip Hop Fundamentals continuously trains young adults to become an integral part of their organization. Some of the dancers who become part of the Hip Hop Fundamentals team start as early as middle school, and learn from Mark and Steve throughout their high school careers. After high school, they may be hired as full members of the team, travelling to schools to run the assemblies. You can watch a video about some of the team members’ experiences here.
“Hip Hop brought me back to life,” explained one member, B-Boy Breeze who talked about how being part of Hip Hop Fundamentals helped him refocus his life after a challenging childhood.
Another member, B-Boy Native, opened up, “When I got introduced to break dancing, that really, like, took the eyelids off my face… It changed my heart. No matter what color skin we got, we still got a mentality that - alright we’re human beings and we really want to do something, we want to make something productive. And this dance has really brought me closer to education… This life, it’s too short to waste it.” Powerful, real words from a young Philadelphian.
Mark talked about how great these members of their team are at connecting with school-aged audiences in the Hip Hop Fundamentals assemblies. “They’re younger, they’re relatable, they’re cool-”
Steve broke in, “I’m cool too man!”
Mark agreed, but also spoke about how him and Steve very intentionally keep a young group, always bringing in new members with fresh minds. They know that Hip Hop Fundamentals is here to stay, and they don’t want to ever stop evolving.
There’s no doubt that students who get to witness (and participate in) the assemblies l-o-v-e Hip Hop Fundamentals’ show. But, teachers and administrators also come up to the dancers after the show and comment, surprised, about how much they learned, and how much they enjoyed the experience.
Last year, Hip Hop Fundamentals crowd-funded enough to bring their Civil Rights assembly to ten underserved Philly schools. The assembly uses dance to present a relatable working definition of racism. It reenacts, through breaking, historical events such as the Greensboro Four sit-in. It also depends on student participation, bringing kids up on stage to explain how kids can create social change through motion.
Hip Hop Fundamentals also works with local outreach organizations such as RockReach, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, and Young Audiences of NJ/PA. During these dance workshops, students use the vocabulary of breaking to explore movement, and create their own student-directed works. Mark says,
“These shows never fail to be surprisingly beautiful and powerful. Student-driven work like this always reminds me of how passionate and dedicated young people can be when they give themselves permission to say what they want to say.”
What I love most about Hip Hop Fundamentals is how focused they are on YOU. Yes, You!
You can be a dancer. Don’t have money? Don’t belong to a dance studio? Don’t have dance shoes? Don’t matter.
You are smart. Can’t learn in a traditional classroom? Can’t get straight-A’s? Can’t pass a standardized test? Then let’s try learning through movement.
You can make a difference. In fact, you have a responsibility to make a difference. It doesn’t have to be through dance. In Mark’s article, he encourages people to get involved and make a difference.
“You don’t need permission to creatively teach people how to remember facts, think for themselves, and work with others… This is all we’re saying: if you get people excited and engaged, then you will create lasting change, and it works. Teach your children the physics of cooking an egg. Start an after-school piano club that teaches kids how to write their own music. Support a partnership between a local sculptor and your high school’s anatomy class. Join the PTA or PTO and advocate for more creative activities. Throw a block party and invite your neighborhood kids to create and perform a dance piece.”
Mark and Steve love what they do, but their passion is contagious, and spreads to those around them as well. They want to inspire everyone whose lives they touch. After spending one hour talking with them, I was most definitely inspired. Inspired as a dancer, as a teacher, and simply as a community member.
*Photographs by Ryan Farber (Black and Whites) and Austin Horton (Color)
This post was part of the "Giving the Gift of Dance" article series, which highlights just a few of the amazing programs in Philadelphia that bring the beauty of dance to kids in our community at no cost. Check out the introduction to the series, and find links to the other articles in the series here. Read, be inspred, feel good, and spread the word! These programs deserve our attention and our thanks!
Article written by Hannah Lorenzo.
