Ink Cypher
Ink Cypher is the home of our commissioned writing; it's where you'll find exclusive, original features and long form writing on Hip Hop dance from a suite of international voices.
The order in which you read information can affect the interpretation of what comes after it; Reading Route 1 and Reading Route 2 can be found below to guide you through these texts.
We'd love to hear from people who have read all the works and what order they read them.
If you value the work we're doing and are able to contribute, then please donate. Ink Cypher is our platform to present personal, thoughtful and critical responses on Hip Hop dance. We look forward to your continued support.
Published November 2021 & May 2022
Route 1
Letter to an OG
Marcus Marzipan
Lucy Crowe
Our Aging Elders: The Vanishing of Our Living Libraries & The Erasure of Cultural & Intellectual Hip Hop/Street Dance Codes
Natasha Jean-Bart, aka Tash
The Scarcity of Information Within Hip Hop Culture and the Neglect of Notorious Knowledge
Itsa Gonçalves
Club and Street Dances: An Art of Remembrance
Larissa Clement Belhacel
This Lotus is a Rabbit: 10 Poems as Tribute
Ojo Taiye
Hip Hop: The Mirror of Society in Cuba
Elier A. Alvarez
Self Teaching In Street Dance
Fabrice Pika Taraud
This Dance Is Not Our Own
Brian Toh
Feras ‘Fez’ Shaheen & Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn
DANCING GODDESSES: African American Women Hip Hop Dancers - Cultural Contributors
Ariyan Johnson
FROM SCARIFICATION TO KRUMP - How body adornment has transformed dance across the diaspora
Temitayo Ince
Afrikan Dancers As Embodied Archives
JC Niala
A Story of B-Boying in South Africa
Tseliso Monaheng
The chance encounter as the fifth element of Hip Hop
Iain Bleakley
Queer Club Culture in 1990s Kansas City: A Chance Encounter with Soakies
Starla Carr
The Economies of Freestyle Dances and the Construction of a Community: an anthropological case study of dance in Barcelona
Malvina Tessitore
Episodes of a Hip Hop Memory
Michael Joseph
Episodes of a Muscle Memory: Hip Hop Music Videos and 00s Adolescence
Ellen O'Donohue Oddy
Where is Disability in Hip Hop Dance?
Emily Tisshaw
The Hip Hop and Disability Problem: why do dancers ‘overcome’ it when they could be ‘celebrating’ it?
Porcelain Delaney
Dance As Hard As A Man: how female Hip Hop dancers have had to man up to try to get a place in the hip-hop scene
Godlive Lawani
“Make Some Noise for the Ladies…” Sexism in European Hip-Hop Dance Battles
Francesca Miles
"You will never be a dancer with that body" The Erasure of Big Bodies in Hip Hop Dance
Evelyn Ramirez
Derogatory Dancing: Heteronormative Inscriptions on Female Hip-Hop Dancers in Breaking and Commercial Spheres
Deanne Kearney
Dodzi Aveh
Cisfemininities as bodies-without-organs in hip hop, street and urban dance styles
Natalia Koutsougera
How Dislocated Minorities in Turkey turn to Hip Hop to Build Community and Resist Marginalisation
Danielle V. Schoon and Funda Oral
From Localities to TikTok: Hip-Hop Dance in Indonesia
Nia Agustina
The Social Impact of Monday School and Battle Jam - Les Petites Choses Production
YingLv Wang
Jackanory meets Diversity: Hip Hop culture - when dance becomes theatre
Lucy Crowe
The Commodification of Trauma in Hip Hop Theatre
Isaac Ouro-Gnao
The Duty of Care in Hip Hop Theatre
Isaac Ouro-Gnao
The Recognition of Streetdance in Germany
Takao Baba
La Danse Hip-Hop as Paradox: Artification and Sportification
Roberta Shapiro
How Do You Make a Solo?
Emma Ready
Cairo Calling: A Profile of Layla Ghaleb
Samia Qayium
Dancing Giving A Voice: the power of voguing in Colombia protest
Evelyn Ramirez
Democracy On The Move: How Young People In Argentina are Using Hip Hop Dance to Build Future Democracies
Virginia Fornillo
Implications of Hip-Hop-izing Western Institutional Spaces:
A reflection on how hip-hop dancers transform “unlikely hip-hop spaces”
Maïko Le Lay
The Woo Dance vs Kete: Tradition Recycled or Coincidence?
Dodzi Aveh
Route 2
“Make Some Noise for the Ladies…” Sexism in European Hip-Hop Dance Battles
Francesca Miles
This Dance Is Not Our Own
Brian Toh
Queer Club Culture in 1990s Kansas City: A Chance Encounter with Soakies
Starla Carr
Where is Disability in Hip Hop Dance?
Emily Tisshaw
The Scarcity of Information Within Hip Hop Culture and the Neglect of Notorious Knowledge
Itsa Gonçalves
Dance As Hard As A Man: how female Hip Hop dancers have had to man up to try to get a place in the hip-hop scene
Godlive Lawani
Letter to an OG
Marcus Marzipan
Derogatory Dancing: Heteronormative Inscriptions on Female Hip-Hop Dancers in Breaking and Commercial Spheres
Deanne Kearney
The Recognition of Streetdance in Germany
Takao Baba
Cairo Calling: A Profile of Layla Ghaleb
Samia Qayium
Self Teaching In Street Dance
Fabrice Pika Taraud
La Danse Hip-Hop as Paradox: Artification and Sportification
Roberta Shapiro
Our Aging Elders: The Vanishing of Our Living Libraries & The Erasure of Cultural & Intellectual Hip Hop/Street Dance Codes
Natasha Jean-Bart, aka Tash
DANCING GODDESSES: African American Women Hip Hop Dancers - Cultural Contributors
Ariyan Johnson
Afrikan Dancers As Embodied Archives
JC Niala
Episodes of a Hip Hop Memory
Michael Joseph
This Lotus is a Rabbit: 10 Poems as Tribute
Ojo Taiye
Club and Street Dances: An Art of Remembrance
Larissa Clement Belhacel
Malvina Tessitore
The chance encounter as the fifth element of Hip Hop
Iain Bleakley
Feras ‘Fez’ Shaheen & Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn
The Commodification of Trauma in Hip Hop Theatre
Isaac Ouro-Gnao
FROM SCARIFICATION TO KRUMP - How body adornment has transformed dance across the diaspora
Temitayo Ince
The Woo Dance vs Kete: Tradition Recycled or Coincidence?
Dodzi Aveh
Jackanory meets Diversity: Hip Hop culture - when dance becomes theatre
Lucy Crowe
How Dislocated Minorities in Turkey turn to Hip Hop to Build Community and Resist Marginalisation
Danielle V. Schoon and Funda Oral
Hip Hop: The Mirror of Society in Cuba
Elier A. Alvarez
Dodzi Aveh
Dancing Giving A Voice: the power of voguing in Colombia protest
Evelyn Ramirez
Episodes of a Muscle Memory: Hip Hop Music Videos and 00s Adolescence
Ellen O'Donohue Oddy
From Localities to TikTok: Hip-Hop Dance in Indonesia
Nia Agustina
How Do You Make a Solo?
Emma Ready
The Duty of Care in Hip Hop Theatre
Isaac Ouro-Gnao
A Story of B-Boying in South Africa
Tseliso Monaheng
Implications of Hip-Hop-izing Western Institutional Spaces:
A reflection on how hip-hop dancers transform “unlikely hip-hop spaces”
Maïko Le Lay
Democracy On The Move: How Young People In Argentina are Using Hip Hop Dance to Build Future Democracies
Virginia Fornillo
The Social Impact of Monday School and Battle Jam - Les Petites Choses Production
YingLv Wang
The Hip Hop and Disability Problem: why do dancers ‘overcome’ it when they could be ‘celebrating’ it?
Porcelain Delaney
Cisfemininities as bodies-without-organs in hip hop, street and urban dance styles
Natalia Koutsougera
"You will never be a dancer with that body" The Erasure of Big Bodies in Hip Hop Dance
Evelyn Ramirez
Alongside commissioned writings we also present in depth interviews and primary accounts of people who are active and an integral part of the broad diaspora of the UK Hip Hop dance community.