ENTERTAINMENT SPOTLIGHT
ENTERTAINMENT
PHOTOS COURTESY NJPAC
Finding Their Place in History NJPAC’s Hip Hop Arts and Culture offerings brings hip hop’s next generation into the spotlight 28 FALL 2023 | DESTINATION NEWARK
T
he 50th anniversary of the birth of hip hop— which music historians date to the Bronx backto-school party hosted by DJ Cool Herc on August 11, 1973—was widely celebrated this summer. In Newark, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) joined in the celebrations by presenting hip hop pioneers like Kurtis Blow on its stages—and by launching its tenth season of Hip Hop Arts and Culture classes for Greater Newark children and teens, offering a new generation the skills to make their own music, while sharing a bit of the history of the genre. NJPAC’s Hip Hop Arts and Culture program, which offers all-day Saturday classes during the school year and a five-week camp during the summer, introduces students to all the elements of hip hop: DJing, emceeing (or rapping), beatboxing, breaking (dance) and graffiti. Each hip hop class at the Arts Center begins with a “community cypher”—a gathering of the class to welcome and center
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