Kalumburu Aboriginal Community

This month we had the honour of being welcomed on to Kalumburu Aboriginal Community. Kalumburu is located in The Kimberley and is one of the most remote communities in Australia. We had to take two planes to get there one of which was a four seater plane that almost couldn’t take off due to weight issues haha.
This time around I was accompanied by my crew mate Pepito and renowned Emcee Trooth from the amazing Reach1Teach1. This was a true Voltron connect that happened here! One of the best weeks of workshops we’ve had with Breakthru. Below is a highlight video from the week, as well as a Music video (“WE LOVE KALUMBURU”) directed and produced by Trooth and some photos of the locals.

Thank you Kalumburu!

Australian Dance Festival 2017

I recently had the opportunity of being an Instructor at the Aus Dance Fest in Sydney this year. It was great to be able to work with a bunch of talented and very passionate young dancers. It was also cool to see a few kids I had taught a few years ago, still going hard! Much respect and thank you Aus Dance Fest.

Peace

BREAKTHRU Bidyadanga – July 2017

Here is another visit to Bidyadanga where one of my past students ‘Torekana’ accompanied me. This was a very memorable experience! Check it out!

BREAKTHRU Bidyadanga Pt 2

In September school holidays we found ourselves back in Bidgy to build on what we started in the first visit.
It was great to see that the kids had stuck with it. There is so much that goes on in the community that you can never capture in photos or on video.. Mainly because you need to be in the moment with the kids and the camera gets in the way.
Like one night we were walking around the community to check what was going on. To our surprise there were a group of kids battling on the dirt in front of the shop because it had a light. They were organising it all by themselves! That was something I wish I had caught on film.

This is what Hip Hop does to a child, it gives them initiative, it teaches them that everything is up to the individual. We all have choices.
What a blessing my life is. To be able to share my passion with youth who need it the most.
Peace

BREAKTHRU Bidyadanga

Last school holidays me and my crew homie Lamaroc had the opportunity and privilege to visit WA’s biggest Aboriginal community, Bidyadanga.

Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community (La Grange) is located on the Kimberley coast in Western Australia, 1590 kilometres from the capital city of Perth and 180 kilometres from Broome.

The recognised traditional owners of the land are the Karajarri people.

Bidyadanga is the largest remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia with a population of approximately 750 residents and is home to the Karajarri, Juwalinny, Mangala, Nyungamarta and Yulpartja language groups.

Here are some of the kids we chilled with while we were there.

We would like to thank the people of Bidyadanga for allowing us to come on to their land, as well as the Youth Co-ordinator Adrian Sibert for working along side us up there! And we can’t forget our sponsor on this trip, BRAMS and their anti smoking campaign ‘Nuff of the Puff’.

Much Love!

Photographer: Michael Jalaru Torres
Website – www.jalaru.com
Insta – @jalarufotodesign

CAN Hip Hop Camp – Kellerberrin

This was a camp that Me and Pepito taught at about a year ago. Check it out!
Thank you CAN WA.

CAN Hip Hop Camp

Rush Wepiha – ‘Bboy/Calisthenics Coach/Youth Mentor’

 

 
Whats up everybody! I will be in New Zealand April 12th – 23rd and will be teaching workshops at the ‘Delightful Festival of Body and Sound’ in Tauranga on the 22nd and 23rd.
If anyone else in NZ would like to book me for workshops while I’m there(Groups or Private) please hit me up by email: rushwepiha@gmail.com.
Hope you guys enjoy the vid. Just a little glimpse into my world.
Shoutout to Imaginasion Art studio for the amazing footage and for always being there to catch the memories.. Also to everybody else who’s footage I jacked.. I appreciate you!
Looking forward to RADIKAL FORZE JAM 2016 in Singapore next week. I’ll be Judging alongside some amazing Bboys.

Much Love

Hawaii – January 2016

Recently I had the pleasure of shooting in Hawaii with the man Mason Rose. Very grateful for that!
Here are a few of my favourite.

BREAKTHRU Tjuntjuntjara

Last year in December me and fellow crew mate Lamaroc were blessed with the opportunity to work with the Anangu youth of Tjuntjuntjara.

It was an experience I’ll never forget.

Tjuntjuntjara is a remote Community approximately an 8 hour drive from Kalgoorlie and has a population of around 150 people. On that drive we saw Eagles, Camels, Lizards and lots of harsh outback terrain. 2 hours from the community we bumped in to a van full of the local kids who gave us a warm welcome 🙂

Over the course of 10 days we ran one of our newest programmes, ‘BREAKTHRU – Hip Hop 4 Health’. This programme aims to engage the youth through Hip Hop culture, with a huge emphasis on Health/Fitness and adapting your local culture in to the way you express yourself through Dance, Art, Rapping and DJing.

At the end of the 10 days we had shot enough footage to put together a documented account of the programme as well as a little video clip production of the kids performing for the camera. The Video was then shown to the whole Community on our last night. We basically aimed a projector at the side of a shed while we all sat on the ground and watched the movie under the stars. Amazing experience! I’ll have those movies up soon on my site real soon.

In the meantime here are a few pics.

One of their heritage sites. The Anangu people were removed from their original homeland in the 50’s and 60’s and relocated to Tjuntjuntjara on this Truck. Notice the bullet holes in the door.

Left to Right: Jarrad, Brayden, Shawn, Phillip, Waylan.

 

Hongi – An Indigenous exchange.

Peace

Premillume Photo Shoot (Perth)

A few snaps from a shoot I just did last month with Premillume Photography.

The photographer Naeem is also a Bboy which is always good when doing Bboy shots. Thanks homie!

Peace

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