Actress, dancer, choreographer, and first-time documentary film director, Ariyan Johnson shares her personal journey about the struggles and triumphs of her two conflicting loves: hip hop and the church in this first installment of her docuseries “Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church,” which will have its Los Angeles debut celebrating this year’s 50th Anniversary of hip hop during the Dances with Films, the defiantly independent film festival, at the TCL Chinese Theatres on June 28 at 4:45 p.m.
Unpacking the late 1980s-90s through research and interviews with pastors, historians, artists and pioneering women hip hop dance artists, the film explores the burgeoning industry of Hip Hop and its challenge for acceptance within the church. Correlating elements where the deejay is the worship leader; the graffiti (the art and style) is Black church aesthetics; the emcee is the preacher where the sermon becomes the dance; the b-boy/b-girl is the liturgical dance ministry where the dance becomes the message; and knowledge as the word of God (Bible) is what unites a people as a community through culture. This first installment of “Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church” has a running time of 36:44.
“Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church” begins with Johnson’s research connecting hip hop culture, dance and spirituality in the church, whereas subsequent documentaries in this series will focus on other untold stories of “Spiritual Cyphers” that interconnect with hip hop.
“I am constantly engaged with innovative ways in developing platforms for storytelling and the intersection of Hip Hop and spirituality hasn’t been explored through a feminine dance lens until now,” Johnson said. “I am beyond excited about the fact that 2023 marks the 50th Anniversary of hip hop and I get to share my story now.”
Tickets at $19 and information can be found at danceswithfilms .com/spiritual-cyphers-hip-hop-and-the-church. TCL Chinese Theatres is located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd.
June 7, 2023
Source: https://beverlypress.com/2023/06/hip-hop-and-the-church-explored-in-new-documentary/