“It’s not hip-hop dancing, it’s not ballet dancing, it’s something that is this beautiful fusion of the two in a way that we’ve never seen here.” This is what Brandon Lokey, assistant director for campus activities, said about the Hiplet Ballerina Company. The Hiplet Ballerinas are based out of the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center and combine African, Latin, urban and hip-hop styles with classical pointe technique.
Poster advertisement for the Hiplet performance. Image Courtesy of WCU Campus Activites.
The Hiplet Ballerinas will perform in Western Carolina University’s Bardo Arts Center on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for WCU students, $10 for faculty, staff and non-WCU students, and $15 for the general public. This will be the group’s first stop on their first ever tour and will kick off Western Carolina’s Arts and Cultural Events series this year.
Lokey feels that this show will bring something to campus that people don’t normally see in the mountains.
“I think it’s important to provide students with an opportunity to explore something that could be really really powerful. Or could maybe change the way that they understand dance, the way that they understand art, the way that they understand ballet.”
The Hiplet Ballerinas went viral in 2016 on Buzzfeed, “Good Morning America,” and The Huffington Post. This world-renowned group has performed in Germany, France, Spain, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Click here to watch the video that made the Hiplet Ballerinas go viral.
