2011 Cultural Unity performers

Since its introduction in 2007, the Cultural Unity hip-hop showcase has become one of the most popular features of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. It’s an acknowledgement of young Asian Americans’ interest in hip-hop dance, music and poetry, at the same time it’s also a reflection of the diversity and inclusiveness of hip-hop culture in general!

This year, Cultural Unity will have a larger stage and more entertainment than ever before. You’ll groove to Denver’s top DJs, including world famous DJ Vajra and our hometown hero, DJ Chonz; see some of the hottest hip-hop dance crews in the region performing; intense exhibition battles of some of the fastest rising Bboys and Bgirls in the scene; and not to forget thought-provoking spoken word as well as high energy martial arts demonstrations! There will also be performances of pure rhythm — Denver Taiko moves over from the Main Performing Arts Stage for a demonstration of Japanese drumming, and Kissidugu will showcase West African drumming styles.

Stop by and get down with the funky sounds and get ready for a rocking weekend of Cultural Unity!

See the 2011 Cultural Unity schedule!

The Absolute Family

The Absolute Family is a crew of musicians and artists, a band of brothers and sisters that are passionate about music, art, and philanthropy. We’re serious about what we do and we spread our love of music and art through performance and community outreach. We teach free deejay, piano, drums, saxophone, photography, and dance lessons to the Denver community and spread our passion for music, art, and outreach every chance we can! http://www.absolutefam.com/

Almighty I.Z.

ALMIGHTY I.Z. (Denver/Boulder) “Iz” is a jack-of-all trades; producer/emcee/DJ. His group Earthwormz found success in the early 2000s and again in Japan in 2007 under Rimeout Records. During all this, his DJing combined with his production, knowledge of the MPC2000XL sampler and love for breaks has brought a touch of old school sounds to the mix. He’s DJ’d for over 14 years and is a former DJ/Host for Under The Table Radio (KRFC Ft. Collins, CO) and current resident DJ at Basementalism (KVCU Boulder, CO). http://amateur-ape.blogspot.com/

Dance2Live

Dance2Live is a multi-cultural, non-profit (pending status), unique organization that is aimed at providing resources for a healthy and positive lifestyles for dancers. We believe that dance is more than a movement of body through music. We believe that dance can provide outlets for creativity, inspiration, fitness, natural stress-relief, social bonding, character building, multicultural diversity, and so much more. Dance2Live is on a mission to create and nurture these outlets under one philosophy, a positive lifestyle. The performance will be a combination of all hip hop dance styles including breaking, popping, locking, house, tutting, and some current popular styles. Dance2Live showcases a wide range of unique talent in all areas of dance, providing an aesthetically pleasing show that is sure to have audience members cheering and having a good time. All choreography is created and performed by members of our own crew. Music is chosen to represent that diversity of style and interest that we have within our members. We demonstrate cultural unity not only through the many different backgrounds that make up Dance2Live, but through the diversity we bring to a performance. http://www.dance2live.org/

Denver Taiko

Denver Taiko is celebrating 35 years as a group and are the 4th oldest taiko group in North America. A community based organization committed to honoring and sharing Japanese drumming through performance, Denver Taiko combines both modern and ancient rhythms into a style and sound which is uniquely their own. Throughout the years, Denver Taiko has performed across the US in many different venues which each performance provides the group an opportunity to share the Japanese culture and spirit to those in attendance. DEnver Taiko has performed on the Main Performing Arts Stage for every Colorado Dragon Boat Festival since its start in 2001. http://denvertaiko.org

DJ Chonz

DJ Chonz Established In 1993, member Of The Radio Bums And Lordz Of Fineesse. DJs weekdays On KS-107.5 Denver 5-9pm Mon-Fri. Musical genres include Hip-Hop, R&B, top 40, dance, funk, soul, Latin, BBoy breaks. http://www.djchonz.com/djchonzwp/‘

DJ Lazy Eyes

DJ Lazy Eyes DJ Lazy Eyez is a longtime Colorado Hip-Hop DJ, Hip-Hop Organizer, and Entertainment Media Specialist. He is the former producer and co-host of the Basementalism Radio Show on Radio1190am as well as 2006 Westword “Best Hip-Hop DJ” Award winner. http://www.djlazyeyez.com/

DJ Skip Rip

Dj Skip Rip aka B-boy Breaker One9, has held a strong and influential presence in both the music and dance scenes for over a decade. Dj Skip Rip has performed at most major clubs & music venues in Colorado and has competed amongst the top turntablists in the country. He is also a member of Denver’s veteran crew, LOF, having danced with members of the Jabbawockees, Rock Steady Crew, and Full Circle. This will be the 5th consecutive year this artist has participated at CDBF! The demo will include the art of turntablism: Scratching, beat juggling, mixing, fading and more along with interaction of the other dance participants/artists. http://soundcloud.com/dj-skip-ripkin

DJ Vajra

One of the best all-around DJs in the scene today, DJ Vajra has earned a place among the industry’s elite. Whether he’s competing in the biggest battles in the world or dropping a crushing mix set at the club, fans are quickly learning why he has become DJ Q-Bert’s “Favorite DJ in the world.”The name Vajra strikes fear into the hearts of DJs in the battle realm. His skills have earned him many accolades over the years including becoming the 2010 & 2011 Red Bull Thre3style Colorado champion (3rd place USA finals), winning 4 DMC regional titles (2nd place in 2003 USA Finals, 3rd place 2004 USA finals), earning a coveted spot in the Allies All-Star Beatdown World Finals (3rd place North American finals), and becoming WSTC World Champion. Crowds around the world have been amazed by Vajra’s live performances, blowing the roof off of venues from New York to LA, Paris to Madrid, Tokyo to Beijing, and everywhere in-between. He has thrown down with The Roots in Amsterdam, Arrested Development in London, and travelled across America with A Tribe Called Quest. He has also shared the spotlight with such legendary acts as RUN DMC, Digable Planets, Common, and Mos Def. DJ Vajra is always pushing the envelope during his live shows, with his unique skill set of turntable tricks and party blends. Don’t miss your opportunity to watch him do his thing when in your area! http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-VAJRA/266560049239

Ichiban

Ichiban Ichiban, meaning number one in Japanese, is a Japanese/Panamanian American artist who takes his life and background and molds songs into a format that is easily digestible. No classification can be given to fit his productions precisely, but it can be said that his music is an amalgamation of classic “Boom Bap” Hip-Hop with a Japanese influence. Raised in the original Enshin Karate Dojo, Ichiban has already achieved international acclaim in the full contact karate circuit by winning the 2008 World Sabaki Challenge establishing himself as the best middle-weight fighter in the world. His dominance extends not only to karate fighting, but also to the realm of Hip-Hop music, winning the 2008 title of Best MC by Village Voice Media’s Denver Westword. Multi-faceted, Ichiban not only produces all his own music and writes his own lyrics, he also gets his hands on the knobs behind the boards to engineer each piece. Most recently Ichiban peaked at #16 on the CMJ top 20 Hip-hop chart for his debut album “Psycle Analysis.” www.sonicbids.com/ichiban

Kissidugu

Kissi people are an ethnic group in the country of Guinea West Africa. The country of Guinea was colonized by the French. The colonization ignited a war, as people fight began to fight for the preservation of their culture and their land. Kissi people are war refugees. The name Kissidugu translates to “safe place.” For the purposes of the CBDF performance, Michael Mestas and Allya Sylla will be adapting rhythms and breaks from Guinea to three instruments, Djembe, Balaphon, and Drum-set. We will play three different rhythms. Kuku, a 4/4 classic from Guinea that has gained massive popularity in the western world. Soko, which is a Guinean male rite of passage rhythm. Lastly, DunDunBa, a signature rhythm and dance of Guinean culture that has to do with strength and spiritual healing for men. Pne of Kissidugu’s master drummers, Fara Tolno, has performed at CDBF in a multicultural showcase with Tibetan flute master Nawang Kechog.http://www.kissidugu.org/

Machinez Remainz

Machinez Remainz Crew Machinez Remainz is a poppin’ crew based out of Denver, Colorado that’s well-known for robotic movements mixed in with animation and old school flavored popping. The Crew was established by Ricky AL and Triet Hoang in April 2010. Each member brings different skills sets while embracing diverse styles of dance to form one team. Machinez Remainz’s style is best described as robotic movements mixed in with animation and old school flavored popping. Machinez Remainz have performed in local performances, productions, and festivals in Colorado. The performance is best describe as the “cultural evolution of Asian music”. We believe that music influences aspects of culture including emotions, movements and ideas that music expresses. We want to bring these elements in this performance and mix it with our robotic animation movements to tell a story of the Asian music. http://www.machinezremainz.com/

No Nonsense Crew

No Nonsense Crew The performance of the exhibition BBoy battle where we can learn and rep for our crew and religion.

Simply Breaks

Simply Breaks Crew Formed in 2008, Simply Breaks started with four good friends and has since growing to 11 members. Our group is a blend of age and race, ages from 10 to 22 and also Mexican/Asian/White. Our goal is to be the best that we can be and to inspire others. Our dances are creative as they are decided on the spot and totally dependent on the performers as each person has a unique style of dancing, also each person’s emotions are displayed in their dancing.

Sl1k

We have been dancing with each other since we started 4 years ago we hold the idea of expression not impression above all else when we dance and we are an eclectic mix of culture and style, we feel cultural unity should be celebrated and realized every day and every time we dance and perform we hope people can appreciate that and enjoy the show !

Soundless Flow

Soundless Flow Crew We are Soundless flow, a BBoy organization formed on January 1, 2011. Our goal is to spread the love and do what we love doing. We also try our best in BBoying and only BBoy for the love of it, and not for the glory or fame/money. We want to leave our mark (Soundless Flow) on the scene and be remembered by generations of BBoys! To describe our performance, we are break dancers that enjoy what we do. Winning or losing, we give our 100% respect to the other crew because every battle has a history behind it and we feel that we got to know the other crew better by what they bring to the floor. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Soundless-Flow/137228759688634

Street Styles Breaking Crew

Street Styles Crew is one of the top breaking crews in Colorado. We are as diverse in styles as we are ethnicities. The crew constantly performs its eclectic imperial styles across the Front Range, rocking our souls in the cyphers. Respect the foundations. Peace.