ALLPS School of Innovation was the spot last Thursday as a brand new crew of hip hop musicians, dancers and producers paraded down the red carpet for an exclusive video premiere.
With teachers, fellow classmates, parents and mentors looking on, students involved in the Walton Arts Center’s Hip Hop 101 program at the Agee Lierly Life Preparation Services School unveiled a new song, “ALLPS Anthem” in a joyous celebration of their achievements: writing an original song, choreographing a dance and producing a music video.
“We’re making it out the hood with this!” student and dancer Torrian Parker told the crowd during the post video premiere Q&A with the students who participated in the two six-week after-school sessions with local teaching artists using hip hop as a way to encourage connection and creativity.
Parker’s sentiments were reflected in comments by the other students who promised to make the next release “more hype” when the Hip Hop 101 program continues in the spring.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Dr. Samantha Stinson, engagement manager for the Walton Arts Center, was one of the energetic dancers on the red carpet with students and teachers during the Thursday morning celebration. She said she began developing the program last year at the request of Walton Arts Center CEO Peter Lane after he saw a program commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip hop.
“He thought it would be really wonderful if we did something specifically with hip hop as an art form as part of our learning and engagement programming,” she said. “It was a very broad request, but I like that. It gave us room to play and figure out the best way to bring this genre in the right way with the right people to the right audience.”
Stinson had previously worked with local choreographer and dance teacher, Cynthia Benson, known professionally as CeCe Marie, through dance programs with Walton Arts Center and knew that she had helped develop culturally relevant dance programming through the Rooted Movement Collective.
“She is a wonderful educator and taught for over five years with Arkansas Arts Academy, designed a hip hop curriculum for them, so I knew that she had the chops and the background and the training and the education for it,” Stinson said. “Then we looked together at what other sources we could draw from in this country to educate whomever we were going to put at the forefront of this program.”
The two looked to educator and dancer Aysha Upchurch, who is part of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and founder of HipHopEx, an inter-generational lab at Harvard that explores hip-hop pedagogy.
“She’s done international work, bringing the tenets of hip hop, not just dance, but the tenets of hip hop as a community endeavor into education spaces,” Stinson said. After attending one of Dr. Upchurch’s conferences, Stinson brought Upchurch to Northwest Arkansas to consult with Marie and the other teaching artists selected to lead the program: choreographer Joshoua Vang; local rapper and music producer Jeremiah Pickett, aka BAANG; audio engineer and fashion designer, Jasper Logan; and DJ Antonio Williams.
“We talked about what we wanted our program to look like,” Stinson said. “We talked about learning outcomes. We talked about the populations that we would be serving, [and] what we thought we could teach in the time that we were given.”
The program was offered to elementary students at Washington and Leverett Elementary Schools and to students from John L Colbert Middle School through the Boys & Girls Club.
“We knew that we were going to have to tweak our programming for each of these different populations, and specifically with the high school students,” Stinson said. She said that the students have continued to surprise her with their enthusiasm, especially at the high school.
“We knew what we didn’t want to do, and that was to force the children to do a previously structured curriculum that they may or may not be engaged in,” she said. “So what we decided to do instead was to show them what we do and to tell them what tools they had at their disposal, and then to let them decide what to do with it.”
VIDEO PREMIERE
For the first year of the program, Stinson said they planned a curriculum based on three essentials of hip hop: breaking, which has since been parlayed into dance; DJing, emceeing and beatboxing, which has been parlayed into rap and stage presence. She said that they planned to add a fashion and graffiti element later, but the high school students and the community took it up themselves.
During the premiere Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity from the University of Arkansas received a shout out for helping students dress up for the video, and ALLPS student Zippora Starr created a graffiti style mural for the video.
“We thought we couldn’t incorporate graffiti yet, but we can! They’re showing us that they have the talent,” Stinson said. “I have to say that teachers at ALLPS are extraordinary individuals. The administration has been fully supportive of everything we’ve done.”
They even acted out for the premiere. Teacher Randy Coleman flossed in his best gold watch and chain as he danced next to his energetic students. ALLPS Principal Dr. Denise Hoy and Michelle LeBlanc, guided studies teacher, both starred in the video and were shaking with students, and the other teaching artists and supporters on Thursday.
LeBlanc got involved in the program through CeCe Marie. In addition to teaching, LeBlanc has a background in theater and dance education.
“I wanted to be a part of it,” LeBlanc said. “With this group of kids, so many of them are at risk and don’t have a lot of support. Some of them are homeless. There are food needs, and to give them a minute to feel like they are part of a positive group and to feel success, I think, is incredibly important.”
This is LeBlanc’s first year at ALLPS. She hopes to start a theater group with the students after seeing how well they responded to the program.
“If you have the right teachers, you can bring out the genius in any room,” CeCe Marie said during the video premiere. “And that’s what we did. That’s what our team did.”
She pointed out that many of the students were already interested in hip hop, the teaching artists were there to guide them. Now there’s a solid bond between the teaching artists and students.
Jeremiah Pickett said that it took a little while for the kids at the high school to warm up, but now they are close. During the premiere, Pickett was surrounded by students — taking selfies, answering questions and introducing the next generation of Northwest Arkansas hip hop artists.
“I’m just extremely proud,” he said. He said he’s over the moon with how their hard work and perseverance has paid off.
“I’m proud of all of the work that they’ve been doing,” Jasper Logan echoed. Both he and Pickett are frequent collaborators and advocates for boosting hip hop in Northwest Arkansas. “This is the next generation of, you know, high school students finding an outlet to express themselves.”
And while the energy was live and loud on Thursday, one of the school’s quiet students got a chance to shine. Singing the hook for “ALLPS Anthem,” Ayanna Hale, 17, defied her anxiety to cheers of her friends and her very proud mom, Michelle Daniels.
“I learned how to be a little less anxious to step out of my comfort zone,” Hale said following the video premiere. “This was kind of hard, because whenever I get around big energies, like everyone else in the group, I get quieter than I am. So I just had to tell myself not to get quiet and stay on the same level.”
Like her fellow musicians, Hale wrote about her experience transitioning to alternative learning high school, her past misadventures and current success. She’s looking forward to continuing with the program next semester before her graduation in 2025.
The program also welcomed kids who didn’t want to be in front of the camera.
“They became the media people. They became the set designers and the costumers,” said Stinson. “We tried to treat them as professionally as possible. Throughout the entire process, they had call times. They had expectations. They met them every single time.”
The experience included a video shoot and a professional recording experience at the Fayetteville Public Library.
FUTURE PLANS
“The community is starting to take notice of these kids in a way that they haven’t before,” Stinson gushed. “These kids have often been used to experiencing notoriety in a negative way, like getting in trouble at school. Now they’re able to experience [attention] in a really positive way, and they have big plans.”
On the horizon for next semester is a performance during Sigma Week at UA, the students will perform at the Walton Arts Center’s Masquerade Ball and will have a performance in May in Baum Walker Hall.
“They’re starting to get busy and booked, and they’re taking ownership of their skills and their talents,” Stinson said.
“All these kids are on fire because of hip hop at the end of the day, you know, but they’re learning so many skills,” Marie said. “We’ve created this ecosystem where the elementary kids look up to [the high school] group so much. … They’ve learned the choreography. They want to make videos like they did. They want to be like them.”
“That’s a new feeling for the high school kids to be in a mentor capacity,” Stinson said. “The younger kids have really started to look up to what their older colleagues have done with the program.”
Here’s hoping the Baum Walker Stage can hold them all.
Students, instructors, sponsors and artists pose for photographs Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, during a celebration for the premiere of a student-produced music video at the Agee Lierly Life Preparation Services School in Fayetteville. The Walton Arts Center joined with the school district to provide hip-hop instruction for students at many grade levels. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today’s photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Dancer and choreographer Cece Marie (center) and ALLPS Instructor Michelle LeBlanc dance Dec. 5 with students at ALLPS School of Innovation in Fayetteville during a celebration of the premiere of their student-produced music video. The video is the result of a free afterschool program, Hip Hop 101, which utilizes the hip hop as a common language for connection and creativity. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Performer BAANG (right) speaks with students during a celebration for the premiere of a student-produced music video at the Agee Lierly Life Preparation Services School in Fayetteville. The Walton Arts Center joined with the school district to provide hip-hop instruction for students at many grade levels, but this group of high school students thrived in the program. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Cleo Dorough (left) and Apiphany Thomas, both students at the Agee Lierly Life Preparation Services School smile Dec. 5 while watching a video with fellow students during a celebration for the premiere of a student-produced music video at the ALLPS School in Fayetteville. Their fellow students wrote the lyrics, choreographed dances and recorded for the “ALLPS Anthem,” video that also starred one of their teachers and the principal. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)At A Glance
Hip Hop 101
Walton Arts Center’s on-site after-school program that teaches the elements of hip-hop dance, music production and stage presence from trained professionals in the field – all at no cost to them.
The teaching artists include choreographers CeCe Marie and Joshoua Vang; songwriter, rapper and music producer Jeremiah Pickett, aka B.A.A.N.G.; audio engineering and fashion designer and rapper Jasper Logan; and DJ Anthony Williams.
Washington and Leverett Elementary Schools, the Fayetteville Boys & Girls Club and Fayetteville ALLPS, the School of Innovation, have participated in the popular program. All spots are currently full for the year. Students at ALLPS just released their first track, “ALLPS Anthem,” available on the Walton Arts Center’s YouTube page.
The next Hip-Hop 101 program will conclude with a live performance on the Baum Walker Stage and an originally produced EP album.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
