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.
Ariyan Johnson, Director, is a native New Yorker, founded her company D.I.M.A.B.A. in 1991. Degrees In Movement Arranged By Ariyan was created to educate, spiritually uplift, and build community by using a multi-artistic lens through an African American storytelling experience. She is a multi-disciplinary artist, a pioneer of Hip Hop dance, an award-winning dance filmmaker, an Independent Spirit Award best female lead nominated actress for one of the first female Hip Hop coming of age stories that won the Sundance Special Jury Prize – Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. As a professional dancer, she has either danced, choreographed, and toured worldwide for an array of artists such as L.L. Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Chaka Khan, Ms. Melodie, Ya Kid K, 2 in a Room, Mary J Blige, SWV, Mariah Carey, and many more.
Source: https://dola.com/events/2023/6/18/spiritual-cyphers-hip-hop-and-the-church-tickets