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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

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Route 1

Letter to an OG
Marcus Marzipan

 

Dear Mr Marizpan

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

The Ethics of Living a Double Life: Rethinking Ownership, Authenticity, and Identity in Hip Hop Culture

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

“ezz noh awa korcha” the dichotomy of Queerness in hip-hop dance in Ghana in the wake of a homophobic apocalypse

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

Dear Mr Marizpan
Lucy Crowe


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

The Economies of Freestyle Dances and the Construction of a Community: an anthropological case study of dance in Barcelona

Malvina Tessitore


The chance encounter as the fifth element of Hip Hop
Iain Bleakley

The Ethics of Living a Double Life: Rethinking Ownership, Authenticity, and Identity in Hip Hop Culture

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

“ezz noh awa korcha” the dichotomy of Queerness in hip-hop dance in Ghana in the wake of a homophobic apocalypse

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.

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