Photo by Joe Conzo
Full Circle Productions, founded in ’92 by Kwikstep established as a non profit in ’96 with the help of Rokafella and Violet Galagarza is embarking on another year of cutting-edge Hip-Hop on local and international stages, streets, cyphas, and the industry.
Under the direction of Kwikstep and Rokafella, the company aims to provide training to aspiring Hip hop dancers in New York City and local areas with a particular focus on the cultural roots, the trajectory and growth of the classic styles and how Hip-hop is interpreted globally and commercially.
Full Circle provided an equitable environment for women to train and perform breaking repertoire comparable to their male counterparts on and off stage. Members, who range in age from teens to early fifties, help to create a network of interactive empowerment for elders and youth. Kwikstep and Rokafella offer multi faceted opportunities to learn about NYC Hip-hop history, the industry and life lessons which in time foster a self sufficient artistic world of young leaders, integral masters and elders. Full Circle has hosted international Hip hop contemporary companies visiting NYC and represented Hip-Hop at places once intangible to the street vibe such as The Library of Congress in Washington D.C., where they have the credit of being the first Hip-Hop group to grace the stage. Their repertoire of soulful resilience brings the universal sense of struggle as a common link that unites us all.
Various music videos, national dance tours, commercials and films feature members and students of Full Circle as a testament to how the directors empower dancers to balance both community and commercial work. Full Circle has inspired young dancers to host their own open-dance sessions, impacted the theater realm with street aesthetics, shifted dance festival programming to uplift Hip hop's cultural elements and most importantly stepped into educational forums with the message that Hip-hop is a continuum of afro diasporic social expression despite the mainstream's superficial portrayals. Producing a documentary about women in Breaking/Street dance, creating evening length as well as short theatrical pieces, offering cultural workshops and planning seasonal dance events comprise the variety of programs Full Circle offers to support the cycles of growth in the community while paying respects to our ancestors.
Kwikstep
Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio AKA DJ KS 360 started dancing between the ages of 6 and 7 influenced by Soul Train and block parties in NYC. Kwikstep has performed in PBS's Peabody Award-winning "Everybody Dance Now," the Great Performances 20th Anniversary Special, and Kurt Weill's "September Songs," which was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 1996 Kwikstep and his wife Rokafella established Full Circle as a non-profit internationally acclaimed Hip hop collective known as Full Circle Productions Inc and its members are known as Full Circle Souljahs. In the year of 2017, he received the National Teachers Award from the American Dance Festival. He is frequently hired to judge and teach master classes for Breaking competitions worldwide. Presently, he is an adjunct professor in the dance department at Queens College and working on a national project called the United Hip hop Vanguard to uplift the cultural aspects of Breakin in the US.
Kwikstep's photo was shot by B Fresh Photography
Rokafella
Ana "Rokafella" Garcia is a NYC native who has represented women in Hip-hop dance professionally over the past three decades. She co-founded Full Circle Prod Inc- NYC's only non profit Break Dance Theater company with her husband veteran Bboy Kwikstep generating theater pieces, original poetry and local dance related events. In addition to directing the documentary about Bgirls " All the Ladies Say" she premiered a new dance work Beauty Meets Beast to help explore the duality of women in Street and Club dance. She is hired internationally to judge Break dance competitions based on her knowledge of the classic Hip-hop dance style. She teaches unique workshops aimed at celebrating the roots and history as well as the technique of classic Hip hop dance styles and has hosted Breakin sessions at various locations in NYC since 1997 including The Point CDC, The Door, High Bridge and Alfred E Smith. Presently an adjunct professor at The New School and a Hip hop dance instructor at NJPAC she motivates aspiring dancers to understand and to learn the business side of being an independent artist.
Rok's picture was shot Mr Ray Been3
Kwikstep and Rokafella - Husband and Wife team, Company Co-Founders, Artistic Directors, Choreographers, and Managers of Full Circle Souljahs Performances and Events. Received the Prestigious ADF National Dance Teacher Award on June 27th, 2018.
Photo by Marc Baptiste
