Ballet Meets Hop-Hop With The Hiplet™ Ballerinas at the MAC

As part of their national tour, social media darlings, the Hiplet™ Ballerinas bring their unique mix of classical pointe technique, hop-hop and urban dance styles to the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8. A free post-show discussion with members of the ensemble will take place immediately following the performance.

Hiplet™ was specifically designed to make dance accessible to audiences who don’t normally attend ballet performances and is based out of the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center in Chicago’s South Loop, founded by Homer Hans Bryant. Bryant founded the Bryant Ballet School and Company in 1990 to offer all dancers, but especially low-income students and dancers of color, an entrée into classical ballet. The name of the school was officially changed to Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center in 1997. In 2008 Bryant merged ballet and street dance to create the new technique of Hiplet™.

In 2016, Brazil’s Só Bailarinos re-shared posts of Bryant’s Hiplet™ classes. The unique technique causing so much excitement that the video amassed more than 8 million views. Shortly BuzzFeed, the Huffington Post and ABC’s “Good Morning America” (GMA) were knocking on Bryant’s door. After GMA aired their performance, offers for commercial work and collaborations from notable tastemakers, including Mercedes Benz and Vogue, started pouring in. Today, Hiplet™ has garnered more than 1 billion views in concerts, on air and online.

Hiplet™ dancers scheduled to perform in the MAC program are Aero (Roberto) Whitaker, Alexandria Franklin, Allison Harsh, Camryn Taylor, Cameryn Stevens, Chantal Ashante, Dai’Mere Robins, Elexis Gibson, Jayda Perry, Nia Parker, Tay’Hiana Welch, Trevon Lawrence and Yetunde Washington

Hiplet™ creator Homer Hans Bryant is a former principal dancer with the world-renowned Dance Theater of Harlem. His professional credits span from a command performance for the Royal Families of Norway and England to Timbuktu, with the Legendary Eartha Kitt and the motion picture “The Wiz” with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. Homer was a former member of Prima Ballerina Maria Tallchief's Chicago City Ballet. His teaching and training experience include working with Canada's mesmerizing Cirque Du Soleil productions of Mystere, Alegria, Quidam and Saltimbanco; many of Bryant's former students are in various Cirque Productions around the world. In 2009, Bryant received the Helen Coburn Meir & Tim Meier Achievement Award; was featured in the short documentary "Raising the Barre: The Homer Bryant Story"; received The Arts Legend Award, Arts Alliance Illinois and was named a 2009 Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. In 2010, he was inducted as a member of "The History Makers and was named one of Chicago Defender's “Men of Excellence 2011.” Alongside 33 innovators, Bryant will be part of an exhibit “The American Scene,” curated by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and scheduled to open in late 2020.

The McAninch Arts Center located at 425 Fawell Blvd., on the campus of College of DuPage presents The Hiplet™ Ballerinas, 7:30 p.m., Saturday Feb. 8. A free post-show discussion with members of the ensemble will take place immediately following the performance. Tickets are $40-$50. For tickets or more information visit AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000.