MIXTAPE COLLECTIVE

Photo credit: Bill Cameron

Performance – Education – Research

We are a non-profit organization serving the Twin Cities Hip Hop dance scene by connecting artists with resources and cultivating a thriving artistic ecosystem. Our annual performance engages with with racial and gender inequity, environmental justice, and the joy of building community. We create residencies that allow youth to tell their stories. The Archiving Project is a free and accessible video history of Twin Cities Hip Hop dance.

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Origins of MIXTAPE

The MIXTAPE Collective comprises established and up-and-coming Hip Hop choreographers and dancers, electronic and instrumental musicians, and videographers and editors. We formed in 2017 as a response to the lack of performance opportunities for our dance genre and have successfully produced since the establishment of the collective. 

Photo Credit: Bill Cameron

MIXTAPE 6: Cypherspace

Uprising Acknowledgement

In May 2020, the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in South Minneapolis sparked a national movement. This movement was marked by frustration and fire, deliberation and dance, education and action. Instead of pivoting, we expanded, asked questions, and invested in our communities. We held our presenting institution accountable by asking about their relationship to the Minneapolis police department. We invested in BIPOC-owned businesses in our communities. We stand against systemic racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia. We celebrate love, joy, resilience, and artistic excellence.  

Photo credit: Dan Aasland Flickr

 

The collective currently consists of an artistic director, music director, visual director, company attorney, eleven choreographers, over thirty dancers, four musicians, and three mentees. Our mission is to push the boundaries of these art forms through an annual performance created through an intensive process of collaboration and mentorship. 

We are concerned with producing shows that encourage audiences to be fully present with us, honoring vulnerability as a strength, and resisting a political landscape that tries to keep us apart. Our collaborative approach encourages clear and continuous communication between artists to produce works through a rigorous editing practice.

By weaving together choreography and musical compositions, MIXTAPE’s work reveals generative strategies for sharing power and access to resources. MIXTAPE 5G: The Sound of Movement  promises to be our biggest production yet.

Photo credit: MNHS.org

Land Acknowledgement

MIXTAPE is in St. Paul, a city located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota people, whose origin story begins at a sacred place they call Bdote, a point where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers converge. Additionally, we acknowledge the Ojibwe, whose homelands extend northwards from where we live, work, and study.

 

Performance Sponsors

MIXTAPE’s work is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metro Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. This activity is funded, in part, by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund. Other funders of MIXTAPE’s work are New Music USA and Red Bull.

Want to donate to MIXTAPE? We appreciate your support!