Elementz, a hip-hop cultural arts center in Over-the-Rhine, teaches more than eight counts and being fly on the dance floor. The studio was founded by local activists in direct response to unrest following a police shooting in 2001, and it continues to serve as a creative outlet for the Black community.
"At the core, Elementz was a safe haven for young people," said Camille Jones, an Elementz alumna and creative futures program manager. "We began in the early 2000s, founded by community activists that wanted to create positive change for young people following the killing of a young black man named Timothy Thomas in Over-the-Rhine."
Thomas was 19 years old when he was shot and killed by Cincinnati Police Officer Stephen Roach in an OTR alley. His death sparked days of citywide protests and unrest, especially within the Black community. His death also led to the Collaborative Agreement between the city, the police union and Black community and civil rights leaders.
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Since its inception, Jones said Elementz has been hosting hip-hop classes each Wednesday. She said this has provided an escape from the world and a space for healing, self-expression, confidence building and community.
Hear more about what Elementz offers the community in the video below:
Those lessons, she said, are far from surface-level. Hip-hop music and dance, specifically, have been ingrained in the Black community since the 1970s, when there was so much to say, but dance spoke volumes. Jones said she fell in love with hip-hop at 15, and the Elementz studio has played a big part in her passion.
"Elementz is a part of the reason I'm the artist I am today," she said.
Through past and present-day trials and tribulations, Jones said, the Elementz team always wants to teach artists Black history so that they "learn about an art form that is rooted in a people that made something out of the rubble."
She said that in addition to hip-hop classes, Elementz offers art and music lessons. The studio also travels to local schools and recreation centers.
"We work really hard to amplify the voices of young Black creatives," Jones said.
I got to take a dance class with Elementz choreographer Dashawn Mitchell, who said he dances for his mental health.
"Literally nothing else matters once I'm diving into a piece of music," he said.
Mitchell said hip-hop dance is not just a sequence of motion on a dance floor for him, and he said he sees that same tranquility in many dancers he teaches. He describes it as "that safe space where, as a man, you can take the deepest parts of those feelings and put them in a piece of choreography and put them in a freestyle."
He said that intertwined in eight counts, he finds an escape from the anger and violence we see all around us. Mitchell said he is honored to hold that kind of space for other local artists.
"There's always something beyond the dance steps," he said.
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