When you think of ballet, classical music like Mozart or Beethoven probably come to mind, but what happens when you throw in some hip-hop? You get something called Hiplet. A performance of the cool new dance style will chassé its way into the MIA this Friday.
The last thing you’d expect to see at a ballet show is a lot of sass, or see any hip-hop moves, but Hiplet is no ordinary ballet.
Alexandria Franklin: “Hiplet is a fusion of ballet with other styles of dance, so Homer created the name Hiplet, so it’s a combination of hip-hop and ballet, but we also combine jazz, African dancing, Latin dancing, and we’re doing everything on pointe.”
You heard that right! The moves of hip-hop mixed with soft and graceful ballet done in pointe shoes.
Nia Parker: “Homer really wanted to find a way to make ballet more accessible for younger generations, because kids, especially in the ’90s, were wrapped in hip-hop.”
Homer Bryant: “I would mix it up and play with classical music sometimes, or Beyonce sometimes, or Bach, or Led Zepplin. Just mixing it up so they have a feel for ‘OK, my body can do this,’ but always focusing on the classical ballet technique.”
Hiplet includes the grace and technical elements of ballet but adds some of your favorite dance moves.
Nia Parker: “We incorporated voguing elements, we’ve incorporated locking elements, as well as popping.”
Remember voguing? Those were the days.
The show is presented by Culture Shock Miami at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium. It’s a push to engage young audiences with different forms of art.
Christina Tassy-Beauvoir: “Culture Shock Miami is the audience development program of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. This is a performance that is two years in the making. We were set to present them in 2020, shortly before the pandemic hit, and we’re really excited to bring it back.”
Carolina Pupo-Mayo: “We’re having Hiplet perform here at the auditorium, because we thought it would be a wonderful idea to have ballet and hip-hop come together in a very exciting and exuberant show, and it’s a great way to introduce ballet to an audience that normally wouldn’t be able to see it.”
Guests are encouraged to have fun and be a part of the show.
Homer Bryant: “We want you to sing along, we want you to clap, we want you to have a good time. It’s entertainment, and we entertain you at the same time, so come, relax, sit back and enjoy.”
Hiplet will pirouette its way into town on Friday.
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