Is hip-hop dancing for everyone? Atlanta’s FyreNation Crew is on a mission to prove it

Anthony Fyrefli Gasaway Jr back row third from left and Pleasure Kuma Gasaway seated holding boombox gather with FyreNation Crew members and dance participants at Atlanta s Old Fourth Ward Park on April The group is dedicated to changing perceptions about hip-hop dancing Credit Courtesy of FyreNationOn a hot spring Saturday in Atlanta s Old Fourth Ward dancer Elation Kuma Gasaway is popping to Don t Stop the Rock a classic breakdancing hit from Kuma and her husband Anthony Fyrefli Gasaway Jr have formed a region crew called FyreNation to spread their love of hip-hop dancing to people of all ages You know a lot of people when we started this reported us that you can t have a family-friendly neighborhood event and it d still be hip-hop Kuma who cofounded the group with Fyrefli recounted GPB People still think that hip-hop is very grimy very street hood all that stuff So when they see this they see people that look like us And it s a positive area not just for adults but for kids too And also that we re adults and we still dance and it s OK The organization which plans to become a c hosts free events called We On Fyre Cyphers in community spaces or private venues And at one such cypher defined in hip-hop way of life as a gathering of artists improvising on the spot held on the edge of Atlanta s Beltline the beats attracted young members of the Woodstock Ga Ignite Dance Company on break from a nearby competition I love to dance one of the middle school and high school dancers disclosed after performing a dance at the cypher with three of her troupe members I feel like you just can tell things that you can t say with words you know And like I don t know I m just trying to explain It s just like dance is therapeutic It is therapeutic another dancer chimed in And you can be someone else while you re on the stage While crowds gather around a checkboard dance floor laid onto the concrete in the shadow of the modern Olson Kundig Fourth Ward Office Proejct Fyre Nation crew members with nicknames like Drumz Panthaa and Scar pull out all the stops for onlookers with liquid dance robot moves and body rolls Delight Kuma Gasaway left dances at Atlanta s Old Fourth Ward Park on April Credit Kristi York Wooten GPBFyrefli says the group s connections go deeper than just a shared love of dance Kuma had the idea and she had the pure mindset of Let s create a safe space and because of that people started showing up to We On Fire Cypher events he explained There were people that were coming in that were like Well I ll just dance for fun I never thought I could be fill in the blank or I just love music I never thought I could do fill in the blank and We On Fire Cypher stopped being just this you know escape for just dance And it became a safe haven and a networking ground in a mini district that has so multiple veins and communities that there s people we ve connected with that never would have thought they would have anything to do with hip-hop dance Crew members including Sawa Kryptonic Bboy Prototype and others emailed GPB to explain why they re involved in the group citing strength of character and good ability and an open door and open space for dancers Two participants in Uganda and Japan explained they plan to spread the public concept wherever they go A cypher is a place where hip-hop finds its truest purpose healing educating and uplifting wrote Mark Maccolo Dagrus Kimuli Katiko also known as Hip-hop Professor What started as a creative initiative has grown into a grassroots movement with real world impact Ja Kari Consept Bonardy is right now living in in Southeast Asia but began attending cyphers in Georgia which helped me rediscover that love for my tradition I d lost in the haze of maturity he announced And it s not lost on them how much I miss them here LISTEN GPB s Kristi York Wooten speaks with the cofounders of Atlanta s FyreNation about building locality through dance For more information on We On Fyre Cypher events visit the FyreNation site here The Fyre Nation crew will be featured in a short film as part of the All Arts Artist and Resident Effort through WNET in New York and ultimately stream on GPB through the All Arts Channel And I looked and read up on it and it s like all these people all over the entire country are filling out forms and sharing information for this And I had a moment of feeling like Can we do this Like Are we really that big Can we do that And it was like Well look at what we ve done already ' For Kuma and Fyrefli continuing to build the Fyre Nation means never losing sight of their original hopes for what they desired this hip-hop locality to be My hopes are that this brings a bit more awareness to people for population events Kuma mentioned I also hope that this can change the narrative for hip-hop There s a lot of misappropriations and misconceptions about what is hip-hop and what is just street Fyrefli added And we hope that with this whole project the people that have been alongside us this entire journey will see a blessing from it including like the people working with the film the music people have the credits with their name being in the credits and everything That s something to put on a resume and that they can look up for once in the scene and say Hey we did that ' Anthony Fyrefli Gasaway Jr dances at Atlanta s Old Fourth Ward Park on April Credit Kristi York Wooten GPB NewsThe post Is hip-hop dancing for everyone Atlanta s FyreNation Crew is on a mission to prove it appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta