The Museum of Light recognizes celebrated choreographer Alonzo King during its The Light Tuesdays series. Alonzo King explains navigating the duality of light and darkness in his The Light Tuesdays feature. His eloquence makes it clear why the director of San Francisco’s Alonzo King LINES Ballet has been lauded with awards for his work over the past 30 years. Most recently, Dance Heritage Coalition added him to its list of America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures. Some of his other prestigious honors include being named Master Choreographer for the Kennedy Center, a Lifetime Achievement Award by Corps de Ballet International Teacher Conference, and San Francisco’s Mayor’s Art Award. His work spans opera, film, and television.

ABOUT THE LIGHT

The Light documentary, which explores the artist’s journey, is being directed by award-winning filmmaker Joslyn Rose Lyons with music journalist Billy Johnson Jr. producing. The online exhibition is being curated by The Light producers in collaboration with Rafael Casal and Blended Creatives.

“There’s an over saturation of salacious media coverage on the Internet. The intent of this project is to add more positive affirmations into the mix,” Johnson says. “The artists we have interviewed for The Light thus far have shared with us the philosophies of their triumphs and we know people will be blessed when they hear these stories. This is just a taste of what’s to come.”

For more info on The Light visit:
www.themuseumoflight.com
www.instagram.com/museumoflight
www.twitter.com/museumoflight

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Atlanta-native rapper Rome Fortune returns with a fun video for his new single “Dance,” produced by the buzzing Haitian-Canadian composer Kaytranada. Recently-signed to Fool’s Gold Records, the teal-bearded one shows us all that he knows how to have a good time and that he is a versatile, ever-evolving artist. Watch the newly directed GOLDRUSH video below and be on the lookout for his debut album.

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At it since ’87, Cut Chemist (Jurassic 5, Ozomatli) is still very well delivering, having released his Funk Off Mega Mix last month (10/31) for the digital heads. But the vinyl fixing is now available for pre-order! A limited run of 1,000 pressings will be shipping out November 27th. They’re equipped with specially designed foil and carefully embossed jackets. Still not convinced your wax collection should have this? Give the release a spin below.

Brace yourself for 29 minutes of a beautifully mixed pot of French Synch and drum machine-based sounds collected from cassettes and records by Cut Chemist himself. Inspired and executed in a similar fashion to a lot of his previous works, it’s more or less an ode to early 80’s drum machine and synth material. Having had the chance to catch him live on a few occasions, it’s safe to say the listener or viewer’s satisfaction is always guaranteed. You may start dancing or snap your neck a few times. Let your body make those decisions and enjoy. Peace and love:

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Many still do not know the name Alkaline in the states, but in Jamaica he is the reigning media champ. Dancehall clashes, skin bleaching, & eyeball tattoos: all words used to describe the 20-year-old rapper. The international dance hall artist has created another infectious song. With well over a million views on YouTube in three weeks, there’s no doubt that Alkaline’s, “Fleek” is a smash hit.  The song includes a very enticing beat that is accompanied by his fluid rap & dancehall emcee abilities. His music is undeniably catchy.

Click play below to hear Alkaline’s song, “Fleek” :

To learn more about Alkaline, check out his Youtube, Twitter, and Soundcloud.

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Hip-Hop and dancing go hand in hand. Ever since the early days of b-boying in the streets, dancing has been very much a part of our culture. You can find elements of Hip-Hop dance everywhere in today’s society even if it isn’t the traditional “break dancing”. Hip-Hop dance has moved from those traditional roots into  every inch of our lives. Whether you are at the club, at a sporting event, a concert or even just walking down the street on a fresh summer day, you are bound to see someone breaking out some variation of Hip-Hop dance move. That’s because nowadays, catchy rap songs come with their own type of dance or dance move; it’s nothing new.

Look way back at Digital Underground‘s 1990 smash hit “The Humpty Dance.” That, along with MC Hammer‘s “The Hammer Dance” were pioneering songs that created the emergence of these iconic dance crazes. The best part about it is that most of the moves aren’t hard to do. As seen above, it’s as easy as waving you hand in the air while bouncing in a circle. People would hear the song, remember the simple dance step or cadence and naturally imitate what they saw. It something that makes Hip-Hop fun and interactive. It’s one thing to bob your head to an introspective boom-bap track but it’s definitely another to bust a move to your favorite dance track with a crowd of people doing the same. The feeling is infectious and hence why the trend has survived all these years.

The most recent dance craze to hit our culture is the Shmoney Dance. Coined by Brooklyn up and comer Bobby Shmurda on his summer heater “Hot N***a.” The dance has spread worldwide in a very short period of time and has seen renditions from the likes of Rihanna, Drake and even Beyonce. Again, not a hard dance to do; just step around, throw your hands in the air and move up and down. In light of this recent craze, we have compiled a list of some of the hottest dance crazes of the past few years.

THE DOUGIE

2010’s dance craze was none other than the dougie. Named after Hip-Hop pioneer Doug E. Fresh, the dougie was a dance started in Dallas that incorporated moving your body in a shimmy style and brushing your hand through or near your hair. It was a massively infectious dance and still gets love in clubs around the world.

THE JERK

This dance craze was reinvented in 2009 but made its Hip-Hop debut back in 1960s. Teenage rap duo New Boyz dropped their iconic “You’re a Jerk” that featured an extremely simple beat but a dance that had house parties and clubs alike bouncing all night long. By jumping with a little hop-step, anyone with decent coordination could pull off the jerk.

CRANK THAT

Soulja Boy‘s 2007 smash hit “Crank Dat Soulja Boy” brought about a dance craze for the more dedicated. Featuring another easy beat and a tutorial-required dance sequence, anyone who had 15 minutes of time to kill could learn this dance craze. To this day, Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” remains one of the most downloaded and searched for songs of our generation.

WALK IT OUT

This dance created by DJ Unk back in 2006 was the epitome of southern dance moves. It is potentially the simplest on this list as to do it right, all you need to to is bend your knees and walk. You can see a bunch of today’s dance moves use the basics of the walk it out  as it will be immortalized as one of the hottest dances in Hip-Hop.

THE STANKY LEGG

This dance was maybe the most outrageous. 2009’s hit “Stanky Leg” was amongst the biggest dance crazes in Hip-Hop. Originated by the GS Boyz, this dance required people to get low, wiggle one leg and slide. The music video is priceless as the collective breaks down how to successfully “hit the stanky legg”.

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If you’re looking for something besides the average club hit to get your friends moving this summer, look no further. Lewis James’ Krakatoa EP, released via Original Cultures, is strange, layered, exciting, varied, and, most importantly, great to party to. Stream or buy below.

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When you mix Diplo with German producer Boys Noize, only one word comes to mind: spectacular. On this week’s Diplo & Friends episode on BBC Radio, Boys Noize took over for a full hour of non-stop mixing featuring the best in electro dance music.

☆ ☆ ☆ T R A C K L I S T I N G ☆ ☆ ☆
01.) Dan Avery – Taste [Phantasy]
02.) Boys Noize – XTC [Boysnoize Records]
03.) Audionite – What’s The Count [BNR TRAX]
04.) Shadow Dancer – 2nd City [Boysnoize Records]
05.) Baskerville – Priam [BNR TRAX]
06.) D.I.M – Mariachi [Boysnoize Records]
07.) Scuba – The Hope [Hotflush]
08.) SCNTST – Let U Go [Boysnoize Records]
09.) High Powered Boys – The Mashine [Marble]
10.) Spank Rock – Nasty (SCNTST Remix-BN Edit) [Boysnoize Records]
11.) Bok Bok – Reminder (L-Vis 1990 Remix) [Night Slugs]
12.) Boys Noize & Erol Alkan – Roland Rat (LFO Remix) [Boysnoize Records]
13.) Peaches – Burst (Bart B More Dub Mix) [Boysnoize Records]
14.) Gunrose – Tears Of Pleasure [BNR TRAX]
15.) Cybersonik – Technarchy [Plus 8]
16.) D.I.M – Dragon [Boysnoize Records]
17.) SCNTST – The Bizzy Jump [Boysnoize Records]
18.) Strip Steve – Stomp [Boysnoize Records]
19.) Strip Steve – Astral (Destructo Remix-BN Edit) [Boysnoize Records]

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