Hip Hop Intensive 2024
Back for its 3rd year! Join us for a dynamic week of movement from August 19-23 that celebrates Boston’s Hip Hop dance culture. Open to all levels, experience in hip hop dance suggested. Full week or daily drop-in registrations available.
Each day:
5-7pm Teens (Ages 12-18)
7-8:30pm Adults (Ages 17+)
Schedule:
Monday, August 19: Locking with Aaron Myers
Tuesday, August 20: Popping with Megatron
Wednesday, August 21: Vogueing with Priscilla Colon
Thursday, August 22: House with Miranda Lawson
Friday, August 23: Battle skills with Jeff Jean-Phillipe
2024 Intensive Faculty
A-A-Ron of Beantown Lockers is an dance artist-educator dedicated to the preservation of Locking, which is a funky style of dance that Don “Campbellock” Campbell pioneered in Los Angeles in 1970. He’s been the Locking instructor at The Floorlords Studio, created video tutorials for universities, and led Locking academies abroad from Abu Dhabi to Rio de Janeiro. A-A-Ron’s also the Co-Founder, MC & Dance Lead for the creative venture A Trike Called Funk whose interactive mix of music & movement plus participatory paint experiences have been unleashing creativity and building community in/around Boston since 2021.
Miranda Lawson (she/her) is a performer, choreographer and teacher based in the Greater Boston area. She received her BA in Dance and Psychology from Mount Holyoke College in 2022, where she was recognized with awards in choreographic excellence and leadership through social justice work. She currently performs with Boston’s own Phunk Phenomenon and with Kia the Key & Company in addition to making and performing in her own work.
Megatron (Tron) started Poppin', Lockin', and Breakin’ back in 1978. A self-taught dancer, he helped form the group Cosmic Reaction. He then moved to become a founding member of The Almighty Floor Lords in 1981. They started out doing street performances and during that time traveled all across the country. Megatron considers his style to be very original as far as creativity goes. He’s very versatile and he thinks of himself as a perfectionist. Megatron's training technique is very detailed, and he likes to create intricate routines and moves and break them down into palatable core elements, also imparting the history, culture, and music of the dance forms he teaches, with a healthy dose of respect for his contemporaries and those who preceded them.
Together with his longtime dancing partner and crew member Shallow, they created a program called Slaughter House, where kids and adults of all ages and abilities can get educated on many different styles of Street Dance and Hip Hop culture. Slaughter House provided a safe haven for many dancers willing to broaden their careers, built their self-confidence, respect, and skill level, taught them about the entertainment industry, and resulted in many world-renowned dancers, including America’s Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Best Dance Crew, as well as Disney Shows, major motion pictures, international dance crews like the Jabbawockeez, cruise ships, and major artists.
Megatron was fortunate to work with great artists like: Heavy D & the Boys, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Fabulous, Method Man, Grandmaster Flash, Kool & the Gang, Busta Rhymes, Aerosmith, Kenny G, The Bee Gees, New Kids On the Block, Salt N’ Pepa, Martha Wash, Meatloaf, C&C Music Factory, Village People, Cyndi Lauper, UTFO & Curtis Blow, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Run D-MC, Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, Special Ed, Kid n’ Play, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Stevie B, Onyx, Fat Joe, CeCe Peniston, MC Shan, Naughty by Nature, Luther Vandross, James Brown, Krs-One, Beastie Boys, Marky Mark, George Clinton, Tevin Campbell, Madonna, Peter Wolf (J Geils Band), Slick Rick, Lil Jon & the Eastside Boys, Twista, Kim Sims, Voice, Giggles, Covergirls, Sweet Sensations, George Lamond, Tara Kemp, Lisette Melendez, Masta Ace, TKA, Tony/Tone/Toni, K7, Corina, Coro, Kriss Kross, Young Black Teenagers, De La Soul, Silk, Jodeci, Big Pun, Arrested Development, PM Dawn, Tag Team, MC Lyte, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Nirvana, Billy Ocean, Ying Yang Twins, Fabulous, Candy Man, Bone Crusher, Donna Summer, Color Me Badd, Natalie Cole, DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, and many others. Tron also performed in the motion picture “Celtic Pride” and at events hosted by Woody Harrelson, Cam Neely, and Tia Carrera, and appeared on TV in the Arsenio Hall Show, Sports Connection, Party Machine, Chronicle, Wrap Around, and the 2013 New Year’s Eve Ball Drop with Carson Daily and Jane Lynch hosting.
Priscilla is a dance teacher originally from NYC. She is the co-founder of Urban Feme Dance Boston and Mosaic Movement Boston, choreographing for various shows and festivals throughout the USA. She is a trained dancer in latin and hip hop styles and teaches Hip Hop at Urbanity Dance on Monday nights from 6-8:45.
Jeff’s purpose is to guide people to excel in their life because I know they can. I am passionate about playing the role that helps people rediscover a meaningful life full of passion and purpose, all while I can live a life that I am proud of. I am a man of many trades but mentoring humans through their personal lives, artistic journeys, and holistic health, to achieve a magnificent break-through is where I thrive.
Being the Artistic Director and Founder of The Expressive Movement dance company, Dance Advisor for Positive Street Art, Hip Hop educator at various studios and institutions in New England, and nomad of the earth, I have had the honor of deeply connecting, exchanging wisdom, and providing guidance to people all over the world. With these inspiring experiences, I created my personal brand, J-Brand, an organization where I express my purpose through mentorship, holistic practices, dance/art, and comedy.
My largest successes are the moments where I achieve pure presence, as presence is our strongest state of authenticity and love. In a society where our natural order is constantly overstimulated, I put in work everyday to master this mind and body so I can serve others and bring them closer to their personal truths and purpose in this lifetime.