Becoming Performers at Uncommon Collegiate Charter
By Roukijah Rooks (NutellaK), New York City Program Manager
Learning the Basics
Creative Netwerk's NYC branch partnered with Uncommon Collegiate Charter (UCC) scholars for the 2025–26 school year, leading a Black vernacular history and dance foundations residency facilitated by teaching artists Melanie Aguirre and Roukijah Rooks (NutellaK).
The residency began with an exploration of street dance history and hip-hop culture. Melanie and NutellaK guided students through the five foundational elements of hip-hop: Dance, MCing/Music, DJing, Visual Art (Graffiti), and Knowledge. Centering these cultural fundamentals became a defining aspect of Creative Netwerk's approach to its residency with UCC.
Melanie introduced students to dance styles including salsa, New Jack Swing, and house dance, weaving together historical context through archival video, storytelling, and movement. NutellaK expanded on these lessons by connecting hip-hop's evolution to contemporary movement cultures, including Litefeet. She also guided students through diasporic dance forms rooted in dancehall and Afrobeats, highlighting their cultural significance and influence.
Throughout the residency, Melanie and NutellaK encouraged students to celebrate their individuality by bringing movement traditions they already participated in into the classroom, including what many students identified as TikTok dance trends. Together, the class explored how these popular dances strengthen pattern recognition, memory, rhythm, and call-and-response practices while serving as contemporary expressions of cultural exchange and creativity.
Drawing from these historical, cultural, and movement-based studies, students began developing an original stage work that will be presented at UCC's Mid-Winter Showcase in February 2026.
From Rehearsal to Stage
With six dance styles introduced throughout the residency, UCC scholars had a rich movement vocabulary to draw from when developing choreography. At the heart of the creative process were two essential principles of Black vernacular dance: groove and bounce. Building upon these foundational qualities while layering the movements students learned became the focus of the work. The UCC scholars rose to the challenge!
At the Mid-Winter Showcase in February 2026, students took the stage with charisma, courage, and confidence, demonstrating both their technical growth and their understanding of street dance culture. Their performance reflected not only the choreography they had learned but also the cultural knowledge and personal expression they had developed throughout the residency.
To accompany the performance, NutellaK and Melanie created a dynamic soundtrack inspired by 106 & Park's iconic "Top 25" countdown. More than a music mix, the soundtrack celebrated hip-hop's cultural legacy by incorporating soundbites from former 106 & Park host Free alongside additional interludes that honored the show's influence on a generation of music and dance enthusiasts.
The mix traced hip-hop's sonic evolution across decades, featuring artists such as TLC to represent the New Jack Swing era and progressing to contemporary productions by Tweek Tune, Lady Mosofou, and H-Rocks, whose work continues to shape today's Litefeet sound. Together, the performance and soundtrack showcased the ongoing evolution of Black vernacular dance and music while connecting students to the rich cultural lineage from which these traditions continue to grow.
Engaging Audience Through Video
One of the most meaningful outcomes of the Mid-Winter Showcase was students' growing awareness of stage fright and the confidence required to perform before an audience. While a few students chose not to participate in the live performance due to performance anxiety, the experience became an opportunity for growth. During the second semester, NutellaK and Melanie intentionally focused on building students' confidence through exercises centered on audience engagement, stage presence, and self-expression.
In addition to creating choreography, students practiced projecting confidence through facial expressions, posture, eye contact, and outward energy. These skills became an integral part of the creative process, reinforcing that performance is about communication as much as movement.
To provide another performance opportunity in a supportive environment, NutellaK and Melanie challenged students to perform for the camera. With support from Creative Netwerk, the teaching artists hired a professional videographer and organized a dedicated video shoot for the students' culminating project. Students took ownership of the creative process, selecting their costumes and collaborating closely with Melanie and NutellaK to shape the choreography. They incorporated movements inspired by TikTok dance trends while also experimenting together to create original phrases and new interpretations.
The video was filmed in the school's courtyard and edited by Creative Netwerk's media staff member, Talia Sugarmann. The final project celebrates the students' artistic growth, collaboration, and confidence developed throughout the school year.
Check out the incredible work these students created throughout the 2025–26 school year here: