MEDIA MACHINE

Kwikstep and Rokafella of Full Circle redefine dance through hip-hop

NY Press
By Susan Reiter
December 19, 2007

Interviewing Kwikstep and Rokafella about their latest project gives me a moment’s pause since their new dance-theater piece, Innaviews, is structured around dead-on parodies of nightmare interview experiences they’ve had. Instead of groaning at the latest lame questions coming at them, both—in separate conversations—were forthcoming about this new venture that takes them in a more theatrical direction and challenges them as actors while showcasing their exceptional dance skills.

The couple founded their company, Full Circle, more than a decade ago. They describe it as a “collective of urban artists with the dream of providing a home and creative center for hip-hop culture.” Their particular interest is in countering the standard-issue (and limited) mass-media portrayal of hip-hop through their performances, community activities and educational projects.

“I saw hip-hop from its beginnings, and I see what it’s morphed into. We grew up with it, in its organic state, right from the streets,” says Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio. “The next two generations grew up with it on TV and the Internet. They’re experiencing it totally differently. In order to sell it, you need to package it. In its organic state, it was a celebration of life, but they’re not celebrating life on TV. That can be frustrating. But instead of complaining about it, what we do is set an example, and take everybody with us.”

He and Anita “Rokafella” Garcia performed an earlier version of Innaviews in January 2006 at Dance Theater Workshop, which has provided time and studio space to develop the work. They first linked up with DTW when its longtime director, David R. White, came to a 1999 showcase they did and encouraged them to bring their work to the highly regarded Downtown venue.

Discussing the origins of Innaviews, in which the duo break away from the interview section to launch into monologues and scenes touching on their lives and experiences, Rokafella says, “We had been looking to do a duet for a long time—just to break it up a little—because we always did ensemble work. We felt, ‘Why don’t we say something that applies to our struggle, the things we feel in common with a lot of hip-hop dancers.’ We thought we’d create something that speaks to that experience. We wanted to put something on stage that our community can identify with truly, not just on the surface.”

They’ve been working with a director Gamal Chasten since August on character development and honing the script which they wrote. “It interweaves the interview questions with who we really are,” Kwikstep explains. “You get to see both how the media really are, and get a peak inside who artists can be, and why we really do what we do.”