Motor City Street Dance Academy

Building community by empowering youth through hip hop culture

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About

Founded in 2016, Motor City Street Dance Academy is dedicated to bringing hip hop culture to Southwest Detroit and mentoring youth from all around Detroit. MCSDA offers dance, art, and music classes through traditional styles of hip hop; Aerosol Art, Breakin’, Popping, Jit, DJing, beat-making, anime/comic design, and yoga. Using the elements of hip hop as a tool to empower youth with social-emotional development, professional skills, career paths, and healthy living, MCSDA works to enhance the lives of Detroiters through hip-hop, physical activity, and healthy living. Their purpose is grounded to uplift the disenfranchised communities in Detroit, much like the way the pioneers of hip-hop did decades ago. They work actively to provide a safe space for everyone to express themselves freely.

The S.E.E.D. program was created as a satellite programming initiative. Securing funding from the Max M. Fisher Foundation and winning the Knights Art Challenge allowed the program to gain traction and develop into the city, letting MCSDA become a staple of the neighborhoods. Artistically, The S.E.E.D program focuses on self-expression and creativity. The S.E.E.D Program currently serves youth from 8 middle schools and four high schools with a focus on youth voice and ownership over each club space. The ultimate goal of the S.E.E.D. program is to create a self-sustaining community of hip hop inside of Detroit.

Work

Peace, love, unity, and having fun. Motor City Street Dance Academy is a dance studio and mentorship program that seeks to engage youth via the elements of hip hop, Breakdancing (Breakin’), DJing, Emceeing/Poetry, and graffiti art, and empower them through the S.E.E.D. (Spreading the Elements Everywhere in Detroit) program network, which connects youth in middle school, high school, and college to each other and to professionals.

The S.E.E.D. workshops introduce Detroit youth ages 5–17 to social-emotional development, healthy living practices, professional and artistic skills. We will also hold specialized workshops in other styles of street dance (such as Jitting, House and Popping), and connect youth to each other through events, battles, competitions, panels, and video shoots.