BEAT Breakers
Beat Breakers is a free, after-school Bboy/Bgirl program with program Director Ken Swift and Head Instructor Bboy WaAak1 from Breaks Kru.
As Bboying (breakdancing) is making a comeback into mainstream media, the Beat Breakers program seeks to share and teach the roots of the culture through the perspective of real Bboys who came up and helped create the history of this truly American art-form. Legendary Bboy Ken Swift helps the newest generation of dancers understand the rich history of the dance and its relationship to the city that birthed it, New York. As much a social history class as a dance class, Beat Breakers demystifies the current definition of hip hop by bringing it back to its roots.
UPCOMING EVENTS
06.20.12
Bi-Annual Fundraiser June 20th from 8pm to 1am at ARENA Nightclub, 135 W41st St (btwn 6th Ave & B'way). At the fundraiser, each program will feature a performance showcase where both instructors and students will display the skills that have been taught throughout the course of the year. In addition, special music guests have been invited to perform during the evening. A silent auction featuring work contributed by some of hip hop's most established photographers and designers will also be on display.
07.09.12
Hip Hop History Class from July 9, 2012 to August 3, 2012 at East Side Community High. BEAT instructor, MC WHY, will be paired with a history teacher to teach students about Hip Hop.
07.10.12
BEAT Instructors, Taylor, Ken Swift, Dhundee and James Kim are being flown out to Singapore by their government (Ministry of Education) in order to lecture and give workshops sharing the BEAT history, pedagogy and methodology.
RECENT BLOG POSTS
Beat Breakers Director, Ken Swift voted 2nd most iconic dancer of the century!
January 21, 2011
Congratulations Ken! Last month, CNN’s arts and culture program, icon, asked you to vote for your top five iconic dancers of the last century…. Breakdancing pioneer Ken Swift came in second place. Swift is credited with establishing hip hop as a legitimate dance movement and creating many of its classic moves. Read the CNN article…
Beat Breakers showcase at Reform School
November 3, 2010
Beat Breakers was invited to do a performance showcase at Reform School, an amazing project featuring high-profile art exhibitions, workshops, and parties aimed at driving awareness for educational reform, that took place during the weekend of Oct 22-24th. Ken Swift, legendary b-boy icon and Head Instructor of the Beat Breakers program, gave a short introductory speech about…
Beat Breakers in its second semester and introduces a second school, BSSWA!
November 3, 2010
We’re proud to announce that Beat Breakers is back in session at the Bronx Academy of Letters in its second semester, and has also added a new school to its roster, the Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists (BSSWA), where fifteen students have been accepted for the program! We’re super excited to see how the continuing students expand on their…
