Kennedy Center to Present OUTSIDE THE BACHX as Part of Theater for Young Audiences

The Kennedy Center presents the world premiere production of Outside the Bachx from February 20 to March 1, 2015 in the Family Theater. Co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center and Full Circle Productions (a New York City based hip-hop company), co-writers Gabriel "Kwikstep" Dionisio and Ana "Rokafella" Garcia combine dance and spoken word for family audiences-set to classical music and remixes. The creative duo, also co-founders of Full Circle Productions, both direct and choreograph this new work. The press opening performance is Friday, February 20, 2015 at 7 p.m. The production is part of the Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences season and is recommended for ages 8 and up.

The cast features Cristina Altamura as a Guest Concert Pianist and Gene Shinozaki as a Guest Beat Boxer. The cast also includes Gabriel "Emphasis" Alvarez as B-boy; Odylle "B-girl Matis" Beder as Ballerina, B-girl, and Actress; John Gutierrez as Dancer, Actor, and Project Assistant; Angela "Angyil" McNeal as Ballerina and Experimental Styles/Popper; and John "Flonetik" Vinuya as B-boy and Actor.

Following their Kennedy Center performances last season in the family production of Fresh Noise: A Mashup of Youth Voices - Game On!, Rokafella, Kwikstep, and the rest of the crew are back with a funky twist on everyone's favorite "old-school" composers. Full Circle Productions combines hip-hop dancers, a DJ, a concert pianist, spoken word, classical remixes, and much more.

Full Circle Productions, founded in 1992 and established as a non-profit in 1996, is embarking on another year of cutting-edge hip-hop on local and international stages, streets, cyphas, and the dance industry.

The company began as a duo comprised of Kwikstep and Rokafella, who then invited retired hip-hop DJ & B-boy royalty to re-light their fire and reclaim their crowns. Before long, Full Circle grew to include Beatboxers and MC's and dancers of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Full Circle provided an environment for women to train and perform breaking repertoire, comparable to their male counterparts on and off stage. Members, who range in age from teens to early 50s, help to create a network of interactive empowerment of elders and youth. This range creates a multi-faceted cycle of learning about hip-hop history, the industry, and life lessons.

Full Circle, the only hip-hop dance company of its kind in New York, proudly references its roots and style to street performing-which is where Kwikstep and Rokafella began their journey. In the span of its two-decades-plus existence, Full Circle has hosted international hip-hop contemporary companies for exchange to representing hip-hop at places once intangible to the street vibe such as The Library of Congress in Washington D.C., where they have the credit of being the first hip-hop group to grace the stage. The repertoire of soulful resilience brings the universal sense of struggle to the surface as a common link that unites us all.

Music videos, tours, commercials, and films have featured members and students of Full Circle Souljahs as a testament to the idea that art can become your career if you are disciplined and ready to take risks. A short documentary Visiones - Latino Culture in the U.S. aired on PBS highlighting Kwikstep and Rokafella's journey operating Full Circle Productions, maintaining street credibility, and holding on to their cultural background. Full Circle has impacted the theater realm with street aesthetics, urged commercial mediums to value its cultural elements, and most importantly stepped into educational forums with the message that hip-hop is a continuum of social exchange steeped in tradition yet evolving at the speed of need. Film, theatrical pieces, and music comprise the various platforms Full Circle stands on to give back and replenish the cycles of growth in the community. They believe there is a need to reach out to all generations, and hip-hop is the perfect bridge.

ABOUT EDUCATION AT THE KENNEDY CENTER

The Kennedy Center retains its commitment as the nation's cultural center to educating and enlightening children and adults in Washington and around the country. The Center's national education programs include: Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child, which works with 14 municipalities and their school districts around the country to develop a long-range strategic plan for arts education; ARTSEDGE, a website that offers standards-based materials for use in and out of the classroom; Partners in Education, which forges relationships between an arts organization and its neighboring school systems to build effective arts education programs for teachers and teaching artists; Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network, which works with 33 state organizations on arts education policy issues; Explore the Arts, which provides insight into the cultural and historical context of the works presented on stage and sparks dialogue between audiences and the artists who have created the performances through participatory workshops, demonstrations, panels, master classes, and open rehearsals; and the Kennedy Center Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards, which acknowledge teachers of grades K-12 whose efforts have made a significant impact on their students.

In and around D.C., the Kennedy Center's programs include Changing Education Through the Arts, a program that works with 15 schools in the area to affect long-term change in school culture through professional learning in arts integration; Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers, which trains Washington-area educators to teach the arts or other subject areas through the arts; and Washington, D.C. Partnership Schools, where the Center provides resources and teaching artist residencies to 20 elementary, junior, and senior high schools in Washington, D.C. The Center also mounts more than 100 events and performances of theater, music, dance, and opera throughout the season for more than 100,000 local school-aged children.

In addition, the Center offers multiple skill development programs for young artists and professionals both locally and nationally, including the National Symphony Orchestra's Youth Fellowship Program, Summer Music Institute, and High School Competition; Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, Opera Institute, and Kids Create Opera Partnership; the biennial New Visions/ New Voices forum for development of new plays for young people; Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell; Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead; VSA's Playwright Discovery Program, Young Soloists, and Visual Arts Programs; arts administration internships; and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which directly impacts thousands of university and college theater students and faculty.

Outside the Bachx runs February 20 to March 1, 2015 in the Kennedy Center Family Theater. Friday performances are at 7 p.m. Performances Saturdays and Sundays are at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are on sale now through the Kennedy Center website, in-person at the Kennedy Center box office, or by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324.

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