Grantee Database

VERSA-STYLE DANCE COMPANY

Grant Year

2024-25

Grant Program

Impact Projects

Award Amount

$23,147.00

Project Description

Versa-Style Street Dance Company (VSDC)’s 20 Year Anniversary Hip Hop and Street Dance Festival will foster intergenerational learning and cultural exchange for local Hip Hop and street dance artists of color who have been historically and systematically under-resourced, prioritizing art forms rooted in their native Los Angeles County (LAC) community. The festival provides young, aspiring street dance artists of color opportunities to strengthen their artistic practice and collaborate with their community. It also provides employment for working professionals and pioneers of Hip Hop and street dance culture, sustaining a healthy, vibrant, and resilient LAC Hip Hop and street dance community. Funding will be allocated to production costs such as rental fees, compensation for performing artists and various weekend activities, including dance battles, performances, a small business market made up of local vendors and more.

Organization Summary

Versa Style Next Generation (VSNG): Since 2009, VSNG has provided Hip Hop and Street Dance education and mentorship for LAC youth ages 15-22. Through VSNG, our teaching artists – all of whom are artists of color and alumni of the program – provide personalized instruction in Street Dance technique, history and creative industry knowledge. VSNG also builds a sense of community and cultural affirmation, as well as enhanced socioemotional learning and life skills, such as self-efficacy and resilience.

Youth Education and Outreach: We program in LAC communities with high concentrations of low-income students of color. Programming includes providing dance education on-site at the campuses of our K-12 school partners both during and after school. We also partner with the Arts for Healing and Justice Network (AHJN) to produce residencies at juvenile detention facilities throughout LAC. During the 2024-25 school year, our dance education residency programs were provided across eight K-12 schools and two juvenile detention facilities.

Dance Companies: We operate two professional dance ensembles: the original Versa-Style Street Dance Company (VSDC) and our newly-formed secondary company, Versa-Style Legacy, composed of recent VSNG graduates. VSDC performs and tours evening-length Hip Hop and Street Dance productions nationally, while VS Legacy performs locally, showcasing Origins of Hip Hop, an educational presentation on the history of Street Dance in America, at schools, community centers and festivals.

Community Programs: Our weekly Friday Night Dance Classes have been held regularly since the inception of VSDC and are co-taught by VSDC co-founders, providing access to high quality learning for our students and ensuring our organization’s leadership remains fully immersed in the community we serve. Additionally, we facilitate block party-style Let the Music Move You events 4-5 times a year across LAC, offering rich and diverse entertainment and community building opportunities that also help promote awareness of our programming.

Organization

Versa-Style Dance Company

Address

7300 CASE AVE

SUN VALLEY

91352-5034

County

Los Angeles

Region

South – Los Angeles & Orange

Phone

(831) 419-0427

Congressional District

California Assembly district 39

State Assembly District

District 39

State Senate District

District 18

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