We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian/Shim Watson/Dawan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brian/Shim, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Hip hop is a category of dance that is often misunderstood. It is a newer style of dance with many facets and can sometimes be put on the back burner in some cases.

At Hip Hop X, students are taught about how Hip Hop dance incorporates many different dance stylings that have origin and evolution, such as breakdancing, pop locking and krumping. Hip hop dance allows the dancer the most individualism of all the styles. In the dance industry, hip hop is one of the top booked styles of dance for professional dancers.

At Hip Hop X, our clientele trust us. We make our hip hop classes safe, fun, appropriate, and enjoyable for everyone of ALL ages.

Brian/Shim, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hip-Hop X was born out of a need to place Hip Hop dance on a pedestal. Unfortunately, Hip Hop in most dance companies is just an add-on class, and not taken seriously. We can show that Hip Hop is the highest form of dance. Its limits are without bounds. It’s the only form of dance that includes various genres and unlimited variety. Hip-Hop is the dance art form that requires the highest level of mental focus, memorization, fitness, and expression.

Hip-Hop X gives parents exactly what they want.., appropriate music, appropriate dance moves, a winning mentality, and a positive motivational approach. We offer classes for all ages, recreational to competitive programs.

We enroll students all year long. We do not cut off when a student can join in the year. We do not make parents sign financial contracts. We are month to month. We believe if you are happy, you will stay. Many companies have you locked into a contract that you have to continue to pay even if your child no longer wants to continue.

How HHX came to be? One persons passion for dance(Brian Watson) met one persons vision(Shim Dawan) of where Hip Hop dance should stand amongst all genres, and the idea began to take physical form. Brian has a desire to teach and give children the opportunity to discover more about themselves through dance. Shim, program director at Flips & Fitness shared that desire through teaching tumbling skills to competitive cheerleaders, competitive gymnasts, and competitive dancers. Shim was also a Breakdancer and continues to teach it.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Shim has a daughter that was taking lessons from Brian at another dance studio. Shim’s daughter loved dancing so much and was always talking about her instructor, Brian. Shim approached Brian about a unique take on an opening a dance company…,a Hip Hop based dance company. Both saw an opportunity, and after a few sit downs and discussions, Hip-Hop X was born.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Hip Hop is the most dynamic and spectacular form of dance in the World. It’s the only form of dance that has multiple genres. It literally has unlimited movements. It’s the most FUN! When you are at a party and the music drops, no one is doing ballet, they are doing Hip Hop!

We also know that Hip Hop gets a bad reputation with particular music and artists behavior. Hip-Hop X challenges the negative stereotype by selecting music and dance moves that mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa would love to hear and perform themselves!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/hhxperience

Image Credits
Kimberly Meadowlark