LITERACY THROUGH

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THE HARLEM SCHOOL OF HIP HOP
LITERACY THROUGH HIP HOP DANCE Teaching High
School Students the importance of Hip Hop Dance
Education.
BY KIM ELLIOTT
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WHAT IS LITERACY?
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• The ability to read, write or the ability to use
  language to read, write, listen and speak.
• To be able to read and write at a level adequate
  for communication or at a level that lets one
  understand and communicate ideas.
• The ability to identify, understand, interpret,
  create, communicate and compute, using printed
  and written materials associated with varying
  contexts.

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WHAT IS DANCE?

• Movement used in a form of expression and social
  interaction.
• Movement that can be used for social engagements
  or performed for an audience.
• To describe methods of non-verbal communication
  between human beings, which can be
• performed in silence or with music.

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THE HARLEM SCHOOL OF HIP HOP
The Harlem School of Hip Hop mission is to bridge
the gap between Hip Hop dance performance and
education by focusing on the elements of Hip Hop
Culture and translating them into Hip Hop Dance
Performance. Through movement exploration and
performances, students will develop writing,
reading, social and communication skills.
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LITERACY AND DANCEMAKING CONNECTIONS
READING AND WRITING USING LANGUAGE TO READ AND
WRITE COMMUNICATING AND UNDERSTANDING
IDEAS INTERPRET, CREATE AND COMPUTE USING
PRINTED AND WRITTEN MATERIALS DEFINITION WHAT
IS A MOTIF? A way to teach symbols in dance.
SHARING MOVEMENT PHRASES WITH OTHERS USING
TECHNIQUE TERMINOLOGY RESEARCHING DANCE AND
USING RESULTS TO BE INSPIRED TO CREATE CREATING
MOVEMENT PHRASES AND MOTIFS
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THE HARLEM SCHOOL OF HIP HOP OBJECTIVES

• To educate students on the historical value of
  Hip Hop dance through group presentations and
  performances, historical video segments and
  classes of master teaching artists of different
  Hip Hop dance styles.
• To develop confidence in students in
  understanding, teaching and working with old and
  new hip hop dance elements.
• To connect the elements of jazz and hip hop dance
  through research presentations and choreographic
  phrases
• To enhance students ability to work in groups
  and follow and lead each other through structured
  improvisational methods
• To educate students on the different types of Hip
  Hop dance and how Jazz dance is a base style of
  Hip Hop dance.

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WHAT IS HIP HOP DANCE?

• Street dance styles, mainly danced to hip hop
  music, which has evolved to be one of the key
  elements of Hip Hop culture.
• A dance style formed in New York City in the
  1970s and became commercialized in the 1990s.
• Has different elements of old school dances, such
  as breakdancing, popping and locking mostly seen
  in the urban communities and clubs. The new
  school elements mostly seen today on television
  such as BET and MTV are krumping, harlem shake,
  snap dance, crip walk, chicken noodle soup and
  street jazz

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HIP HOP DANCE EDUCATION IS

• Bridging the gap between performance and
  education.
• Learning the historical value of such an evolved
  culture and form of performance art.
• Understanding the roots of Hip Hop Dance and how
  it relates to other cultural movement.
• Exploring the past, capturing the present and
  engaging in the future of Hip Hop dance.
• Focusing on the essence of the different Hip Hop
  Elements and how it affects society today.
• Creating, researching and executing movement that
  correlates to findings and discoveries.

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WAYS OF INTEGRATING HIP HOP DANCE WITH LITERACY

• Students can create movement from magazine
  articles, book passages and their own journal
  entries of Hip Hop Culture, past and present.
• Students can research, write and demonstrate and
  present historical hip hop dance forms and how
  they relate to new dance forms.
• Students can communicate and express themselves
  through improvisational techniques.
• Students can research other types of cultural
  dances and demonstrate how they are connected to
  Hip Hop dance.

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GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

• As The Harlem School of Hip Hop is community
  oriented, we will participate in the following
  events
• Students will perform throughout different
  communities in New York City, such as afterschool
  programs, community centers and community
  affairs.
• Students will visit elementary and junior high
  schools to share what they have learned of the
  Hip Hop Culture.
• Students will participate in a big brother or
  sister program to help a younger child in the
  community.

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THE FUTURE

• Develop The Harlem School of Hip Hop Dance
  Education program and propose to New York City
  Department of Education.
• Open program to younger children who are in need
  of an outlet with an educational focus.
• Create a partnership with Ailey Arts in Education
  and Community Programs as they promote arts in
  education.
• Create an awareness of Hip Hop Dance Education
  and how important it is to our children of today.
• Open program to a national market, as Hip Hop
  Culture is known all over the world.