I am a first-generation Asian American, born in Chicago. From a young age, I have been immersed in hip-hop dance culture. Through my experiences training in the form, making connections in the hip-hop community, and researching my own movement, hip-hop dance has become a part of my artistic identity and direction. 

Over the past few years, I have been constantly reframing and re-understanding my identity as an Asian American hip-hop dancer, whose heritage is not linked to the African diaspora from which the dance form originated.  

How does one continue representing an art form that does not historically “belong” to them? How do you respectfully acknowledge the shoulders you stand on while making your own contributions? And what does it really mean to be a guest? 

I asked myself these questions especially when I started becoming the figurehead for hip-hop dance representation at Princeton University. And again, more intensely, in the last few months with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Working through my personal inner dialogue over the past few years, at least one thing stood out: my contribution must be more than performance, more than choreography, more than my face on a poster. I realized that a fundamental pillar of my work is in education - specifically in subverting traditional, Western-centric institutionalized forms of dance education and access.

Because hip-hop’s history in America is so heavily racialized, hip-hop dance is deeply intertwined in the politics of the colored body. Often seen as a “vernacular” form that exists solely to a commercial end, hip-hop dance has not found equivalent respect, or equivalent funding, in concert dance spaces, which predominantly center classical or contemporary forms. As a result, the bodies and stories of the modern African diaspora are often unseen and unheard in established art institutions. An institutionally supported undergraduate or master’s education focusing on hip-hop dance does not yet exist in the world, as most university programs continue to propagate a Western-centric model for dance education. 

During my time at Princeton I was an active spokesperson for the inclusion of hip-hop and other African diasporic forms in the dance curriculum. I choreographed the first full-length hip-hop inspired dance work for my senior thesis. And upon graduating, I was offered a position to develop the first hip-hop technique curriculum for the dance department. 

The fundamental aspect of the curriculum was to include guest artists to come and teach classes. Ironically, these “guests” are the real hosts of hip-hop culture, and hopefully, eventually they will be the ones running this whole thing. But until then, I do what I can to make the guests feel comfortable, to use their voices, and to take up space. I guess that’s what I’ve come to realize - being a good guest to the form is finding out where my space is and digging in a way that complements the context. In my work, I hope to build a platform for the original bodies, voices, and stories to stand.

This essay was commissioned in collaboration with SideLight, an ongoing series of curated essays from a contingent of the next generation of artists and arts leaders. As the theater and entertainment industry rebuilds and reimagines, these pieces speak directly to our present, yet also seek to envision our future.