Hiplet 🩰 Ballet
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Hiplet (pronounced HIP-LAY) started as "The Rap Ballet" in the 1990s, developed by Homer Hans Bryant. Soon after its development, the Rap Ballet was featured at several schools in the Chicago area while working with Urban Gateways. In 2005, at the UniverSoul Circus, the African American circus, Homer Bryant was approached and asked to have one of his dancers do rap ballet type movement for the circus, and they would teach her aerial. They had a black girl playing Eminem’s violent piece, “Lose Yourself”, on the violin. Homer thought, "I can’t call this rap anymore. What are we going to call this"? His answer...."ballet and hip-hop - Hiplet"! In 2009, Homer obtained the trademark on the word “hiplet.”
Today the Hiplet Ballerinas are "WOWING" audiences all over the globe with their fiery performances and amazing skill. In the words of Founder and Artistic Director, Homer Bryant, "Hiplet is important. It is Afro-centric. So we are pulling from your urban communities, and we put in the Jazz, Latin and African, but we stick to the classical Ballet discipline. We have been to Germany, Seoul, South Korea, France, Spain, and the Virgin Islands, New York and California a dozen times. It’s just amazing what has happened. A lot of normal people have been deterred from dancing because they were a little too big, a little too busty. Hiplet ballerinas look like normal people".
Hiplet Ballerinas is the professional company of The Chicago Multicultural Dance School, a 501(c)3, Non Profit Organization
Upcoming Performances:
The Hiplet Ballerinas Company is a division of the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center (CMDC). CMDC is supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Art Works Fund, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, The Chicago Community Trust, The University of Chicago Community Programs Accelerator, The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, Mielle Organics and countless individual donors.
CMDC is a member of the Black Legacy Project, made possible with support from The Joyce Foundation, The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, The University of Chicago Community Programs Accelerator, and the Doris Duke Charitable Fund. https://www.hipletballerinas.com/tour-dates
CMDC is a member of the Black Legacy Project, made possible with support from The Joyce Foundation, The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, The University of Chicago Community Programs Accelerator, and the Doris Duke Charitable Fund. https://www.hipletballerinas.com/tour-dates
It’s
not hip-hop. It’s not ballet. It’s “Hiplet,” and it’s coming to the
Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center at Gonzaga on Tuesday. In 2016,
the Hiplet Ballerinas went viral after posting a practice room video of
their signature strut en pointe.
A stylistic marriage of ballet
with African, Latin, hip-hop and urban dance styles, the new discipline
has been praised as more welcoming to dancers of color than classical
ballet.
Hiplet founder Homer Hans Bryant was still developing the style when it went viral. Bryant founded the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center, which Sasha and Malia Obama attended, in 1992 where he remains the artistic director to this day.
Hiplet founder Homer Hans Bryant was still developing the style when it went viral. Bryant founded the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center, which Sasha and Malia Obama attended, in 1992 where he remains the artistic director to this day.
In addition to CMDC’s respected ballet program, the center offers modern, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, Latin, tap, African, belly dance, hip-hop and Hiplet courses. “When people ask me about Hiplet, I always say, ‘Hiplet – evolution or revolution? You decide,’ ” Bryant told the Naperville Sun in January. “Hiplet is sassy, hypnotic and exciting. It is entertaining and educational. It is mind-blowing and fabulous.” However, as in any nascent art form, some initial critiques were discouraging. After a morning show circuit tour, the group sparked controversy in the dance community. Perceived risk of injury and departures from classical technique caused many to question the wisdom of encouraging young men and women to learn the style and the stylistic integrity of Hiplet overall.
To some, Hiplet just doesn’t take it far enough as the two styles, each venerable in their own right, seemed to clash within the attempted combination. Citing attempts to fuse the styles that were met with “less vitriol” in a 2017 article for Dance Magazine, Theresa Ruth Howard, a former dancer and dance educator of color herself, said she and her colleagues believed the new discipline was “something of an embarrassment” to them because of the “crude” manner in which Hiplet goes about melding the two disciplines. “(It makes) a mockery of our honest efforts to excel (in ballet) while not honoring the brilliance of (hip-hop),” she said.
Forceful detractors aside, dancers are still signing up for classes, and the group is going strong as they continue to chassé through their national tour. They are currently booked into 2022.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/feb/13/hiplet-is-a-hip-hop-take-on-ballet/
To some, Hiplet just doesn’t take it far enough as the two styles, each venerable in their own right, seemed to clash within the attempted combination. Citing attempts to fuse the styles that were met with “less vitriol” in a 2017 article for Dance Magazine, Theresa Ruth Howard, a former dancer and dance educator of color herself, said she and her colleagues believed the new discipline was “something of an embarrassment” to them because of the “crude” manner in which Hiplet goes about melding the two disciplines. “(It makes) a mockery of our honest efforts to excel (in ballet) while not honoring the brilliance of (hip-hop),” she said.
Forceful detractors aside, dancers are still signing up for classes, and the group is going strong as they continue to chassé through their national tour. They are currently booked into 2022.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/feb/13/hiplet-is-a-hip-hop-take-on-ballet/
Dancer Spotlight
Why Some Dancers Are Giving “Hiplet”
Why Some Dancers Are Giving “Hiplet”
Serious Side Eye
Theresa Ruth Howard
April 27, 2017
Theresa Ruth Howard
April 27, 2017
Hiplet is sweeping the nation. Between TedX, Refinery29, Desigual campaigns, Anna Wintour’s #madeforher fundraiser and the plethora of morning show spots, the hybrid dance craze—known for its sassy runway-style walks on pointe and crab-like bent-knee jazzy chassés - has gone viral.
Hiplet is the brain child of Homer Hans Bryant, a former Dance Theatre of Harlem principal who, in 1981, founded Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center (then called Bryant Ballet), aka the studio where young Sasha and Malia Obama studied before moving to the White House. Bryant started putting hip hop movement on pointe in 1994 with a piece he choreographed for his students, called The Rap Ballet. That evolved into what became hiplet (a portmanteau of hip hop and ballet), which is now a regular class at his school.
But his curious blend of hip hop sur la pointe has proven to be quite provocative. Some see the blending of the urban and European dance vernaculars as a positive by-product of the black ballerina movement. For me and many others, it sets our teeth on edge.
Hiplet is the brain child of Homer Hans Bryant, a former Dance Theatre of Harlem principal who, in 1981, founded Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center (then called Bryant Ballet), aka the studio where young Sasha and Malia Obama studied before moving to the White House. Bryant started putting hip hop movement on pointe in 1994 with a piece he choreographed for his students, called The Rap Ballet. That evolved into what became hiplet (a portmanteau of hip hop and ballet), which is now a regular class at his school.
But his curious blend of hip hop sur la pointe has proven to be quite provocative. Some see the blending of the urban and European dance vernaculars as a positive by-product of the black ballerina movement. For me and many others, it sets our teeth on edge.
Why such strong reactions?
As a former ballet dancer, and current ballet educator, I’ve attempted to break down why it evokes such icky feelings.
🩰
1. The Lack of Ballet Technique
Unlike hiplet, Robert Garland’s Return blends ballet with social dance in a way that shows off the dancers’ virtuosic technique. Most troublesome for me is the fact that the hiplet ladies have so little ballet technique. To be fair, the three older dancers who are typically featured in the group numbers have beautiful feet and show flashes of solid ballet training. But many of the rest are unable to fully get on their box. It’s cringe-worthy and dangerous. Perhaps if the hiplet dancers exhibited the duality of striking beautiful first arabesque lines in addition to being able to “break it down,” there might be less vitriol. For example, Robert Garland’s Return set to music by Aretha Franklin and James Brown melds ballet and social dance quite well by highlighting the adroit ballet technique and versatility of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s dancers.
But most of the hiplet dancers can’t hit those ballet lines, and as a result, the technique is more akin to a toe tapping in a vaudevillian sideshow. Which is weird, because Bryant is a fantastic ballet teacher, known for his bootcamp-like approach to ballet training. He’s famous for employing tactics like non-stop “aerobic” barres, from pliés to battements with no breaks; as you turn from the left side to the right he’ll bark out the next combination. I know because I was his student at a DTH summer intensive at age 13. He was inspiring and effective, well-versed in technique, and was a stickler for strength, stamina and precision.
So for people who have danced and trained (in the traditional capacity) with Bryant, hiplet leaves many of us asking the question, “What happened?” Bryant is finally getting some of the recognition that he is due. It’s unfortunate is it not for what he is truly gifted at: training technically proficient ballet dancers.
1. The Lack of Ballet Technique
Unlike hiplet, Robert Garland’s Return blends ballet with social dance in a way that shows off the dancers’ virtuosic technique. Most troublesome for me is the fact that the hiplet ladies have so little ballet technique. To be fair, the three older dancers who are typically featured in the group numbers have beautiful feet and show flashes of solid ballet training. But many of the rest are unable to fully get on their box. It’s cringe-worthy and dangerous. Perhaps if the hiplet dancers exhibited the duality of striking beautiful first arabesque lines in addition to being able to “break it down,” there might be less vitriol. For example, Robert Garland’s Return set to music by Aretha Franklin and James Brown melds ballet and social dance quite well by highlighting the adroit ballet technique and versatility of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s dancers.
But most of the hiplet dancers can’t hit those ballet lines, and as a result, the technique is more akin to a toe tapping in a vaudevillian sideshow. Which is weird, because Bryant is a fantastic ballet teacher, known for his bootcamp-like approach to ballet training. He’s famous for employing tactics like non-stop “aerobic” barres, from pliés to battements with no breaks; as you turn from the left side to the right he’ll bark out the next combination. I know because I was his student at a DTH summer intensive at age 13. He was inspiring and effective, well-versed in technique, and was a stickler for strength, stamina and precision.
So for people who have danced and trained (in the traditional capacity) with Bryant, hiplet leaves many of us asking the question, “What happened?” Bryant is finally getting some of the recognition that he is due. It’s unfortunate is it not for what he is truly gifted at: training technically proficient ballet dancers.
2. It’s Neither Hip(Hop) nor (Bal)Let
Is Memphis Jookin more balletic than hiplet? Lil Buck uses elements of pointe work in his movement. Hiplet purports to be a blend of hip hop and ballet, but the lack of authentic representation of either genre is another reason some of us are giving it a hard side-eye. The only aspects of ballet would be the use of pointe shoes and some questionably-executed basic ballet vocabulary. And the technique doesn’t draw from real hip hop roots, either. The foundational techniques of hip hop are popping, locking and breaking, although Jookin, a Memphis-born derivative (also known as the “Gangsta walk”), sometimes resembles ballet with its elements of gliding and toe work. But hiplet is more of a mash-up of many styles of West African, Horton, jazz, dance hall and social dance.
Is Memphis Jookin more balletic than hiplet? Lil Buck uses elements of pointe work in his movement. Hiplet purports to be a blend of hip hop and ballet, but the lack of authentic representation of either genre is another reason some of us are giving it a hard side-eye. The only aspects of ballet would be the use of pointe shoes and some questionably-executed basic ballet vocabulary. And the technique doesn’t draw from real hip hop roots, either. The foundational techniques of hip hop are popping, locking and breaking, although Jookin, a Memphis-born derivative (also known as the “Gangsta walk”), sometimes resembles ballet with its elements of gliding and toe work. But hiplet is more of a mash-up of many styles of West African, Horton, jazz, dance hall and social dance.
3. It Undercuts Legit Advances for Black Dancers
Just when black ballerinas like Michaela DePrince are climbing the ranks in major companies, hiplet presents a caricature of “blacks doing ballet.” For ballet dancers of color, hiplet is something of an embarrassment. Just when artistic directors are finally taking the need for diversity seriously, and a few black ballerinas are climbing the ranks in major companies, there is hiplet. Just when we can proudly and enthusiastically hashtag #blackballerinas, #blackelegance #browngirlsdoballet and mean it, when we feel like we are the Jeffersons, movin’ on up, hiplet is the ghettoization of blacks doing “ballet.” Not because it blends African American urban social dance and a European court social dance, but because it does it crudely, without sophistication and hence becomes a mockery of our honest efforts to excel at the latter while not honoring the brilliance of the former. It is not coincidental that just as we have numerous examples of black ballet excellence, a caricaturized image of “blacks doing ballet” becomes the rage. There has always been a cultural counterbalance that happens when African Americans start to make progress. When movies or televisions shows featuring positive black characters and stories are finally produced, there is always what feels like a backlash, where we are presented with versions of ourselves that are laughable or belittling. It feels like tiny weights have been tethered to our wings just as we think we are about to soar.
Just when black ballerinas like Michaela DePrince are climbing the ranks in major companies, hiplet presents a caricature of “blacks doing ballet.” For ballet dancers of color, hiplet is something of an embarrassment. Just when artistic directors are finally taking the need for diversity seriously, and a few black ballerinas are climbing the ranks in major companies, there is hiplet. Just when we can proudly and enthusiastically hashtag #blackballerinas, #blackelegance #browngirlsdoballet and mean it, when we feel like we are the Jeffersons, movin’ on up, hiplet is the ghettoization of blacks doing “ballet.” Not because it blends African American urban social dance and a European court social dance, but because it does it crudely, without sophistication and hence becomes a mockery of our honest efforts to excel at the latter while not honoring the brilliance of the former. It is not coincidental that just as we have numerous examples of black ballet excellence, a caricaturized image of “blacks doing ballet” becomes the rage. There has always been a cultural counterbalance that happens when African Americans start to make progress. When movies or televisions shows featuring positive black characters and stories are finally produced, there is always what feels like a backlash, where we are presented with versions of ourselves that are laughable or belittling. It feels like tiny weights have been tethered to our wings just as we think we are about to soar.
4. It Feels Immature and Opportunistic
If a 20-something dance student snapping footage of friends fooling around in a studio complete with the “YASSSSSES” and “WERKS” in the background was responsible for hiplet, people could better understand it, because it feels immature, impromptu, faddish. When you learn that it is the product of a 67-year-old man, it seems…odd. It feels opportunistic, a phenomenon that is riding the wave of conversations about blacks in ballet straight to the bank. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but you have to ask, “At what cost?” More than ever, images create our reality. Does hiplet help or hurt?
If a 20-something dance student snapping footage of friends fooling around in a studio complete with the “YASSSSSES” and “WERKS” in the background was responsible for hiplet, people could better understand it, because it feels immature, impromptu, faddish. When you learn that it is the product of a 67-year-old man, it seems…odd. It feels opportunistic, a phenomenon that is riding the wave of conversations about blacks in ballet straight to the bank. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but you have to ask, “At what cost?” More than ever, images create our reality. Does hiplet help or hurt?
🩰
Who knows how long hiplet will be on our radar. I am sure that these young ladies are having wonderful experiences and seeing aspects of the world that they never thought possible. That in and of itself is a positive.
But it is hard to imagine these students growing up become hiplet teachers, or mothers being willing to spend upwards of $80 a pop for pointe shoes for daughters to learn to Dougie on in the long-term. But stranger things have happened.
For now, in old-school fashion, I’ll give a nod to Naughty by Nature and say, “Hip hop hiplet, hey, no.”
https://www.dancemagazine.com/why-are-so-many-people-cringing-over-hiplet/
Who knows how long hiplet will be on our radar. I am sure that these young ladies are having wonderful experiences and seeing aspects of the world that they never thought possible. That in and of itself is a positive.
But it is hard to imagine these students growing up become hiplet teachers, or mothers being willing to spend upwards of $80 a pop for pointe shoes for daughters to learn to Dougie on in the long-term. But stranger things have happened.
For now, in old-school fashion, I’ll give a nod to Naughty by Nature and say, “Hip hop hiplet, hey, no.”
https://www.dancemagazine.com/why-are-so-many-people-cringing-over-hiplet/
WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
THE HIPLET BALLERINAS
THE HIPLET BALLERINAS
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