Breakin’
With BRKFST Dance Company
Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman and Joe “MN Joe” Tran
MonaLisa and MN Joe, Co-Founders/Artistic Directors of BRKFST Dance Company, will be focusing this class on the original form of Hip Hop dance known as “Breakin”. Participants will learn about the origins of Breaking and will be introduced to the foundations of the dance: Toprock, Go-Downs, Footwork, Powermoves and Freezes. Class will toggle between practicing movement with repetition and freestyling the learned movement in cyphers. Understanding the values of the dance — resourcefulness, playfulness, resilience, creativity and confidence will be explored through self-directed practice and peer to peer interactions.
BRKFST Dance Company seeks to create intellectually rigorous, physically demanding works of art through abstraction, breaking and contemporary dance vernacular. Exploring original modes of artistic expression is continuously pursued. BRKFST’s egalitarian and choreographic collaboration is rooted in the Hip Hop adage, “Each One Teach One”. Regardless of class, race, experience, age or gender, everyone remains both teacher and student. BRKFST’s lineage stems from breaking and hip hop culture: earning respect from battles, receiving real world critique and embodying inclusivity by passing down their knowledge to the new generation. The lived experiences of this collective who identify as working class, queer, femme and BIPOC, inform their compositions.
BRKFST performs regionally in Minneapolis, MN, premiering work at the Walker Arts Center, Southern Theater, The Cowles Center and Orchestra Hall with The MN Orchestra; nationally in the Belding Theater with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Hartford, CT and internationally in Dublin, Ireland for Dance2Connect (D2C) Hip Hop Festival. Their film Dreamers (2019) was deemed an official selection in 11 international film festivals receiving the Grand Jury Award (In/Motion Festival 2021) and Best Experimental Film (Tirana Int. Film Festival 2020). BRKFST has set repertoire and original work with dancers at St. Olaf College in MN 2023, Carleton College in MN 2022, D2C Hip Hop Festival in Ireland 2022, Bates Dance Festival in ME 2022 and the University of MN 2021.
Photo taken during residency with NCCAkron’s 21st Century Dance Practices by: Dale Dong
