90s Hip Hop

90s Hip Hop is a brand-new dance class for adults at Robert Crown Community Center. This is a dance class for dance enthusiasts and total beginners alike — no dance experience required. 90s Hip Hop based in 1990s-style hip hop dance forms, including New Jack Swing (popularized by ensembles like the Fly Girls) and late-90s club-style hip hop.

Who is 90s Hip Hop Intended for?

Whether you are new to dance, looking for a fitness class, or just want to connect to a community of hip hop-lovers, this is your class! 90s Hip Hop is a dance class designed to familiarize you with the styles and technique of 90s hip hop movement while also giving you a cardio workout — and trust that 90s hip hop is definitely designed to keep you moving. Be prepared to work up a sweat.

Intensity Level: This class is "moderate intensity" — meaning that it is intended to challenge you while also building in stretching and recovery phases.

Modifications are provided in support of diverse bodies and fitness backgrounds.

Experience Level: All. 90s Hip Hop supports a variety of dance backgrounds, from no experience at all to full on hip-hop heads.

Old-School, Dynamic, Inclusive

Hip hop before it was even called hip hop was born as a party dance deeply connected to its music and its community, and we are here to honor the spirit of party, the beats that drive it, and the community that we create by sharing space together.

Class Length & Attire

This class meets weekly for one hour. Clothing should be comfortable, non-obstructive, and support dynamic movement in all spatial planes.

Footwear requirement: clean-soled sneakers.

Ages: 18 and up.

My Qualifications

I am a hip hop lover and scholar as well as a trained dancer with years of professional hip hop dance experience. I started learning hip hop as a kid in the 1990s and later went on to work and perform for a number of San Francisco Bay Area professional hip hop dance companies.

As a cultural outsider to the Black, Afro-Latin, and Afro-Caribbean communities that built hip hop from the ground up, I teach respect for the form, its technique, its history, and the communities that created it. For this reason, I believe it is important to ground our approach to the movement in an appreciation for its specificity and context.

(I also wrote my master's thesis on the history of hip hop, but don't worry — I love hip hop dance too much to spend precious studio time talking, especially when the best lessons are in the feeling of the movement itself!)

Accessibility & Inclusivity

The City of Evanston is committed to promoting a city-wide culture of accessibility and inclusivity. To request an accomodation for a program, service, or activity, please call 847-866-2919 to make an ADA service request or fill out a request form online at evanstonil.qscend.com/311.