Hip hop workshop teachers and organizers

Rise and Shine for Summer Hip Hop Workshops

by Rheanna Toy – Bishop Carroll High School, Calgary AB Jul 9, 2009

On a brisk Sunday morning in June, I gladly decided that there wouldn’t be anything better than getting up and going to Rise and Shine — literally. The exhilarating series of hip hop dance workshops, entitled Rise and Shine, not only woke up the dancers who attended, but also whipped them into shape and taught the adults and teens a little bit more about hip hop culture.

The talented members of the well-known hip hop crew Over the Influence from Vancouver, taught everything from krump to RnB, and the sought after Frost Flow from Toronto’s Ground Illusionz crew taught an energetic bboyin’ class. I was lucky enough to attend OTI member JoJo’s upbeat house class. The hour-long class not only allowed me to feel more comfortable in the lively dance style, but it was also a great environment to feed off the energy of the other dancers.

The two-day workshop on June 20th and 21st would not have been possible without the inspiring commitment of organizers Sweet-Li Lim and Anthony Rebalbos. Both active members of Calgary’s hip hop community, Anthony has been dancing virtually his entire life and Sweet-Li has been dancing for three years.

Anthony explained why he and Sweet-Li felt compelled to put on this event: “We both do a lot of stuff in the community and we work with kids but in different ways. [Sweet-Li] teaches at schools and she’s a full time teacher, and then I also do stuff: I teach kids at Free House Dance Plus and I teach at Latin Corner. And we wanted to get together and just create some workshops!”

As far as the individual classes go, Sweet-Li elaborated: “They’re all so different and you take something different away from each class…[The teachers] want you to really understand the style of the dance.” Anthony adds, “I like all of them because they have different things to offer and bring out of each individual…these guys can do all hip hop styles.”

So make sure you watch out for more comprehensive and energetic workshops organized by Sweet-Li and Anthony in the future!

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