A new style of dance is becoming fashionable in the U.S. called "Hiplet" (pronounced hip-lay). Hiplet was created in 2007 by Homer Hans Bryant, founder of the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center (CMDC). As a fusion of two very different dance forms, Hiplet brings together the young, urban hip-hop and the old, European dance form of ballet. Thanks to social media, Hiplet has gone viral in recent years. It has received both praise and criticism from ballet dancers and fans.
Unlikely Fusion
You might be wondering how hip-hop dancing and ballet can be combined. Classical ballet focuses on graceful postures, leaps, and glides. By contrast, hip-hop dancing is free-form, and combines smooth and sharp movements. But as Hiplet dancer Nia Lyons explains, "Hiplet is the perfect world of both: you need to have the technique and discipline in order to get, and be able to move freely on pointe, but not to the point where you can't express yourself."
Origins
Homer Hans Bryant has taught ballet since the 1980s, but needed a way to help keep dancing fresh. He first mixed the two dance forms in 1994 with his creation "rap ballet." Later as hip-hop became more popular, Bryant adjusted the dance. "In order to stay relevant with young people, you have to do what they're doing now," he said.
Bryant's Hiplet dancers are 12-18 years old, and are mostly African American. While classical ballet often excludes many body types and skin colors, Hiplet has opened the doors of ballet to all dancers. As Hiplet dancer Zipporah Wilson says, "If you have rhythm and can groove on pointe, you got it."
Hiplet is Different
The Hiplet dancers' unique moves have become hugely popular, with millions of views on YouTube. Still, Dance Magazine blogger Theresa Ruth Howard criticized Hiplet as an unsuccessful fusion, and said that it hurts African-American ballerinas who have worked hard on their careers. Others have said that Hiplet only bothers traditional ballet dancers and fans because it's eye-catching and new.
Since going viral in 2016, Bryant's Hiplet ballerinas have danced for TEDx talks, the New York Fashion Week, Good Morning America, and several other talk shows. Watch how the Hiplet dancers show off their amazing moves on pointe in this video.