There are many ways and formulas to spark social change at social level: from the more traditional advocacy workshops, till more grassroots level forms of campaigning that are often carried out through public rallies and open manifestations.
Arts also can play a special role while pushing for improvements of the society if you think about the impact of street theatre that now can be considered “mainstreamed” and more and more used by local not for profit agencies.
Yet too few persons are aware of transformative power that music and dancing can play while advancing social goals.
Few years ago I had the opportunity to know the incredible work carried out by the Nepal Break Dance Foundation now Nepal Hip Hop Foundation, one of the best examples of innovative community engagement and partnerships through dance.
Hip Hop, born in the impoverished blocks of the New York Bronx in the seventies, with its “battles” where opposing dancing teams compete against each other for the better performances, has been often misunderstood as violent form of music.
Instead this music and way of dancing must be rather seen as a way to “unleash” rough energies” stemming from poverty, inequalities, injustices and discrimination that till now mar the lives of many African Americans youths.
Hip hop can be considered as a self empowering way, where a dancer takes out all the frustrations and emanates tons of positive vibes by recharging at the rhythm of every single sound bit.
That’s the way the Nepal Hip Hop Foundation is real catalyst for social change, reaching out youngsters that see no hopes and no future ahead, offering them a unique experience of self development that starts with uncompromising spirit of sacrifice and dedication.
Indeed quite a number of youths “produced” by the Foundation had the unique opportunity to travel the world thanks to their dancing skills proving how Hip Hop can be a launch pad for international exposure.
Indeed Hip Hop dancing is hard and only those who put their hearts into it can excel with hours and hours of tough trainings that could break even the most committed youths.
By doing Hip Hop dancing, you join a family or crew as they call it and you give everything to it, training together and helping each other in the teams.
If you never have seen an Hip Hop training session, I would suggest you go watch the crew members led by Jenishan Dangol, who very recently, thanks to the support of the American Embassy, represented Nepal in Hip Hop International Championship held in Last Vegas this August 2016 where she stood 18th out of 45 world dancers in her locking category.
Seeing Jenisha dancing is like seeing happiness and power combined together through the vibes of music and herself a natural leader, she is able to transfer the self confidence she acquired from dancing to all the members of her crew.
What is truly remarkable is that the Nepal Hip Hop Foundation is not just a factory producing tons of grit, one of the most important qualities determining the key features of a person’ character but the outreach activities promoted by the Foundation’ core team.
The first time I worked with them was in 2013 when we organized, jointly with the famous social activist Sristi KC, a prime dancing training for youths with visual impairments that was an outstanding success.
Few years ago the Foundation participated in the International Day of Volunteer with an outstanding show about selflessness and dedication, two key features of what I called the “volunteering inspired society”.
More recently the Foundation generously contributed to the final game of the Turkish Airlines Empowering Wheelchair Basketball League where many teams’ players, all wheelchair users, were dancing under amazing tunes. Call it the power of music.
The Foundation has been particularly good at working with schools around the Valley and throughout the Nation with more than 3000 children and youths from 30 schools sensitized about human rights and development.
In a smart example of public diplomacy, the American Embassy has provided in the past different forms of support to the Foundation that, on behalf of the State Department, also had the opportunity to organize exchange programs with American students in partnership with Magee Woman care International (MWI), an american not for profit based in Pittsburgh.
The “spillover” model adopted by the Foundation is truly innovative: acting as incubator, the youths are trained and when they are well skilled, they are encouraged to create their own groups or crews.
If Hip Hops and its social impact is spreading around the country it is because of the generous approach offered by the Foundation.
So if you are an HR Manager and you receive a CV from a youths who count as her experience, time spent at the Nepal Hip Hop Foundation, be sure that you have found a very resilient and strong candidate.
Then a little advice: if I were an HR Manager and I were looking for something different, motivating and exciting at the same time, I would visit the Foundation and see how my colleagues would benefit from one team building session based on Hip Hop.
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