Full Circle Souljahs

Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio (b. 1968, lives and works in New York City), started dancing between the ages of six and seven, influenced by Soul Train and block parties in New York City. He has taught highly sought-after workshops in breaking techniques at the Broadway Dance Center, Red Bull Beat Riders, and Red Bull BC One. For over 20 years, he has taught workshops in New York public schools, libraries, and colleges across the country in an effort to make students aware of hip-hop lifestyle and fundamental movement, as well as the history and meaning behind hip-hop culture. Kwikstep has performed in PBS’s Peabody Award-winning Everybody Dance Now, the Great Performances twentieth-anniversary special, and Kurt Weill’s September Songs, which was nominated for an Emmy Award. He won a “Bessie” award for choreography in 1991 and founded the internationally known Full Circle in 1992. In 1996 Kwikstep and his wife, Rokafella, incorporated Full Circle as a non-profit hip-hop collective known as Full Circle Productions Inc; its members are known as Full Circle Souljahs. Today he is an international icon in breaking known for his smooth style, versatility, and signature head spins. Kwikstep was also an original founding member and principal dancer in companies such as Rhythm Technicians and GhettOriginal (creators of Jam on the Groove, nominated for a 1996 Drama Desk Award). He, along with his wife, wrote, choreographed, and directed Soular Powerd (2002), a hip-hop theater piece that ran to sold-out audiences for three weeks at the New Victory Theater. Together they wrote, choreographed, and directed a new hip-hop theater piece commissioned by the Kennedy Center called Outside the BachX. Most recently, Kwikstep was Associate Director and Choreographer for a hip-hop theater piece, Syncing Ink (2017), directed by Niegel Smith, which ran at the Flea Theater.Ana “Rokafella” Garcia (b. 1971, lives and works in New York City) has represented women in hip-hop dance professionally for two decades. She has taught workshops at NYU, Queens College, MIT, UMASS, and Howard University, as well as at neighborhood high schools and community centers. She is an artist in residence at the American Tap Dance Foundation, an Adjunct Professor at The New School, and a DANCE NYC Annual Symposium planning committee member. She co-founded Full Circle Prod Inc, NYC’s only non-profit break dance theater company, with her husband, veteran b-boy Kwikstep, generating theater pieces, original poetry, and New York City-based dance related events. She directed All the Ladies Say, a documentary highlighting the b-girl lifestyle, with support from the Ford Foundation, and performs music based on her experiences growing up in hip-hop’s Mecca. She is hired internationally to judge break dance competitions based on her mastery of the classic hip-hop dance style, and she teaches unique workshops aimed at evolving and preserving its technical aspects. She has worked within the New York City public school system exposing young students to the possibility of a career in dance. In May of 2017, she launched Shiroka, a t-shirt fashion line, with Japanese graffiti writer Shiro. She has been featured in pivotal rap music videos, tours, films, and commercials, and has choreographed for diverse festivals and concerts such as Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Momma’s Hip-Hop Kitchen, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.