Hiplet Ballerinas. Photo: Courtesy of Philip Dembinski.
Hiplet Ballerinasare making their debut at the Auditorium Theatre on Saturday.
The big picture: The term "Hiplet" (pronounced hip-lay), coined by dancer and founderHomer Hans Bryant in the '90s, is a combination of Eurocentric and Afrocentric dance.
The group rehearses at the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center in Printer's Row, and offers classes in tumbling, classical ballet, jazz, and Latin styles for children and adults.
Flashback: Horner used to rap ballet terminology to his students while teaching and quickly discovered how much joy it brought them.
As rap evolved into hip-hop, he transformed his concept from rap ballet into Hiplet.
Since then, the Chicago dance company has performed around the world, including Seoul, Paris, New York and Los Angeles.
What they're saying: "Our approach is classical, our delivery is African," Bryant told Axios.
"We are working with the art of classic ballet which is Eurocentric, but we are dipped in versatility which is Afrocentric."
Hiplet Ballerinas. Photo courtesy of Philip Dembinski.