Battle! Hip-Hop in Armor Community Showcase
The world of street dance battle culture collides with the bygone age of chivalry when modern-day flexN, litefeet and hip hop dancers meet knights in armor. Discover the unexpected parallels—and see what it’s really like to make some moves in all that chainmail, leather, and metal—in this unrivaled series of thrilling dance battles. Dancers and choreographers from Bronx-based It’s Showtime NYC! are May artists-in-residence at the Anderson Center as they reimagine Battle! Hip Hop in Armor. This work was originally commissioned by MetLiveArts in collaboration with the Arms and Armor department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
Featuring:
Calvin “Cal” Hunt, Choreographer, Artistic and Program Director, It’s Showtime NYC!
Dancers and Co-Choreographers Jamil ”Stein” Aleem, Anthony “Laiden” John, Nazier “Bless” Morales, Quinn “Qu” Brown, and Shemar “Shem” Walcott
Join It’s Showtime NYC! at the Anderson Center for a community showcase highlighting this innovative exploration of old and new, performing contemporary dance moves in replica armor made in England. This event is free and open to all, donations gratefully accepted from those who are able.
About It’s Showtime NYC!
Over its 9 year history It’s Showtime NYC! dancers have created new works including Pyramidcommissioned and pre-premiered by Works Process at the Guggenheim and Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. The group was the first resident street dance company with monthly performances at The MET Museum’s 2018-2019, #MetLiveArts season where it first created an earlier version of Battle! Hip Hop in Armor. Other performances and commissions include: Abrons Arts Center, the Shed, HarlemStage, The Apollo, SummerStage, Jacobs Pillow, Lincoln Center, Barclay’s Center, Jamaica Performing Arts Center, Bronx Museum of the Arts, River to River Festival, Weeksville Heritage Center, and in collaboration with Bill T. Jones at the Park Avenue Armory, and with the NY Philharmonic with Casita Maria.
Program members participated in cultural exchanges at La Place culturel hip-hop and Centre National de la Danse (Paris), in Rio de Janeiro for Ocupação Desmistifique and in Belgium. In 2018 dancers were Gibney’s DiP Artist-in-residence. It’s Showtime NYC! was nominated for a 2020 Bessie Award for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer.
About the Anderson Center at Tower View Residencies
For 29 years, Anderson Center has been supporting the development of new arts and ideas through the gift of time and space. To date, more than 800 artists-in-residence have come from 46 U.S. state and 42 foreign countries. Anderson Center uses the word “artist” broadly to include those working in performing, literary, and visual arts, including creative workers whose projects don’t fit into neat categories. Anderson Center Artists-in-Residence work in the inspiring and generative setting of the historic Tower View Campus on the western edge of Red Wing, Minnesota.
Work created through the support of Anderson Center residencies has been published, presented, and experienced through some of the most prestigious entities in the world, including the Smithsonian Museums, Graywolf Press, leading galleries in the U.S. and Europe, and stages across the country.
Our Funders
Additional funding for this program is provided by Artists Community Alliance, Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and New York State Council on the Arts.This activity has been made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant to the Anderson Center, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
It’s Showtime NYC! is a program of the Bronx-based non profit organization Dancing in the Streets. It’s Showtime NYC! is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Generous funding is provided by Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Emma Sheafer Charitable Trust, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, Club Culture Foundation. This program is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
About the Venue
The Tower View Barn is the oldest building on our Historic Site. Originally built in 1915, it was renovated into a flexible meeting and event space in 2012. The Barn is accessed from the main floor of the main building via an ADA-compliant ramp. If you have questions about the accessibility of Anderson Center facilities or programs, please contact us! Email info@andersoncenter.org or call 651-388-2009.