EDITOR’S NOTE : Karla Flores is a Spring 2023 CA$H grantee. This article highlights her funded activities and vision. A froRooted is something new. And at the same time, has existed long before the name was even created. It is holding up hip hop culture, and trac- ing its roots back to the drum. The first code. It is recognizing the births and histo- ries of these freestyle dances, and ask- ing, “What more is there? Outside of the Black and Brown communities that catapulted house, waacking, breakin, rock dance, turfin and vogue into bat- tles and onto world stages?” The circle, the cypher (or cipher), existed long before these freestyle art forms began. This is not to gener- alize, more to emphasize that Afro- Rooted has been done several times over and over. The “cypher” existed in traditional dances from indigenous communities telling stories through movement. Honoring ancestors and connecting to Earth. Lilian Maxmillian Nabaggala and me, Karla “Karlita” Flores, two women active in choreographic work, battles, performance and community orga- nizing, met officially back in 2015 through the State Department cultural network, Next Level—an international hip hop diplomacy initiative. Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, we connected through our love of the dance style waacking. We learned each others’ teachings from freestyle and traditional movements. Some of these sessions would take place on hostel rooftops in Kampala. AfroRooted is the continued “con- versation” between dances from the African diaspora and the freestyle dances of today. It officially launched in 2019, forging a new community of Bay Area folks from the competitive street dance world and the traditional African dance world.
by KARLA FLORES
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in dance FALL 2023 14
FALL 2023 in dance 15
In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
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