Galaxy Dance Project 4th Anniversary

A massive thanks to everyone who took part and everyone who came along to our 4th Anniversary event! Here's some of the highlights....

Photo's by Esther Mbabazi, see more photos of the event & more at Mbabazi Photography

Be The Change You Want To See In The World

The 14th December 2014 will make way for the 4th anniversary of the Galaxy Dance Project and this years Anniversary event.

This years theme, "Change Begins with You", will celebrate the power we all individually have to change the world around us for the better.

Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing "Change Begins with You" and want you to join with the GDP family to help small change spread across the globe! Today, we have brought together quotes that share our vision that change begins within each of us. Which quote means most to you? Let us know your thoughts share your own quotes with us!

"You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - Gandhi

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” - Andy Warhol

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” - Eric Roth

“We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers - but never blame yourself. It's never your fault. But it's always your fault, because if you wanted to change you're the one who has got to change.” - Katharine Hepburn

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” - Rumi

“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” - Rick Warren

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves." - Gandhi

"How are you going to change the world? The answer is easy. By changing your world."

How are you going to change yourself? What changes are you making each day to become a better person? And how is the Galaxy Dance Project helping change you for the better?

Share your thoughts, share your quotes & ideas, let us know what you think & how you are changing your world, & join with us to celebrate how "Change Begins with You" at our 4th Anniversary on the 14th!

Fundraising for our 4th Anniversary

"Break Dance for the Community" is our annual event that gives our dancers an opportunity to show their talent to the local community. The event, which will take place in December 2014, provides a platform for our members to inspire, motivate and entertain, and get our community involved in the Galaxy Dance Project mission and purpose.

Galaxy Dance Project has set up an online fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo to raise much needed funds to help run the 4th anniversary event and help us inspire more youths to join our positive cause.

The target to raise is $600, which will secure a venue for the event, provide sound & equipment, and help promote the event within the local community. Running the event will help us continue to demonstrate the talent we have here in Uganda and help our dancers build confidence, show their skills and work together in a positive way to change their outlook on life.

We want to use this event to inspire others to take part & educate the community on what we have to offer and what else takes place within the Galaxy Dance Project throughout the year. We are asking everyone to support us in whatever way you can - whether that be donating towards our target, sharing our posts & donation pages, following us on facebook and helping spread the reach of the Galaxy Dance Project family.

With your support and contribution, we will make this event a huge success. Please dig deep and we very much look forward to seeing you at what we hope to be our biggest event yet!

Visit our IndieGoGo page here to donate now!

GDPU 3rd Anniversary

On the 25^th January 2014, The Galaxy Dance Project held it’s third anniversary at the Aya Grounds, the GDPU training centre, to celebrate the power of hip hop, friendship and dance, and its role for positive change in the community.

With over 200 people attending from around Kampala and further afield, and guests even attending from mbale (eastern region of Uganda) and Kenya, the anniversary aimed to share the projects missions and goals whilst educating and entertaining, and providing workshops & performances to really show how far the project has come.

The day began with the team excitedly working to bring the grounds up to scratch and ensure the project really shone when all the guests arrived.  Starting at 7am, mopping, cleaning and planning the sound and stage area, we came across some minor issues; not enough chairs, rain and no electric!

Thankfully, help was on hand: Shafic solved the connection issue and the local church lent us some chairs. But for the downpour – well we just had to pray that it would stop. And our prayers were soon answered so we could continue to put on the show.

Kicking off at 1pm, the event was hosted by two MC’s, Eris and Bgirl Pretty, nominated by the GDP members themselves. Eris opened up the event delivering a mind blowing speech by giving a testimony of his life as a Bboy and all the benefits he has gained from it – meeting new friends, participating in battles & competitions, building his personality and learning skills, and especially gaining his parents trust and support.

Continuing with the show with ultimate breaking battles, beatboxing and poetry, we paired up top Bboys with other top Bboys from competing crews, with Ray Smeago from the East Hood Dance Project Uganda, and Novic, from the Breakdance Project Uganda emerging as champions from the 2 vs 2 breaking battle performances, and Nelly Sade, Taye, Leaky Stone and Spyda MC blowing the audience away in the Rap Movement performance.

A massive performance from Mozey, showed why he is still the undisputed Beat Boxer in Uganda, with skills that took our guests breathe away (and hopefully showed them that beat boxing is a skill that really does takes time, effort and lots of practise). Then, taking to the stage, our renowned Slum Mad Dog MC’s blessed the event with strong poetry and lyrics, with the lyrical vibe continued by guest MC’s Jora MC from D.T.M and Scooter MC from Original Skills Crew/Mouth Incredible. 

And we couldn’t even think about running an event without bringing top class local DJ’s to the scene – DJ Jephass and Oki blazed it high with their magnifying breakbeats and hard instrumentals, demonstrating the power of music and hip hop for all to hear. 

But the event wasn’t just performances, dance, MC’s and poetry – the Galaxy Dance Project aims to change the community for the better, and with our community plagued by dilemmas such as illiteracy, unemployment, crime and poverty, primarily effecting the youth who struggle to support themselves, it can sometimes seem like there is no hope for them.

Rique Baazanyanengo, teacher at the Galaxy Dance Project Uganda co organised the anniversary with Alex Heskey, Esther and the team. Along with co-hosting battles, and preselecting Bboys for the event, Rique also schedule meetings with organisations and parents, and held a discussion on the Rusty Roofs programme he introduced to the Galaxy Dance Project. ”I introduced a programme to offer English language classes, life skills and health knowledge. The problem with stagnant and angry youth is that there is a lack of drive to change. They cannot see peace so peace will not be realised.  This increases crime rates, early pregnancies, drug abuse, prostitution and is a continual downward cycle. Eventually societies get so weak and the social fabric is so bleached that society becomes fully dependant, chaotic and run down. This is no good for anyone. This is why we decide to bring people together and illustrate to them the role of hip hop for positive change.”

To do this, months of hard work has gone into bringing together both governmental and local groups, and organisations that could run workshops, demonstrations, talks and explain their missions and goals also, so we can build a better community together. On the day, we welcomed “Days for Girls Intenational” and “Diva and Diana” who helped educate on women’s health, and how men and boys can support and help girls and women progress in society, regardless of their differences.

We also welcomed Straight Foundation Uganda, and the Ugandan Police, who enlightened us about serving and protecting citizens, and the aims and objectives of the Police Force in the area, in addition to Bent Lines chairman, Kawessi Mark, a hip hop practitioner who delivered a heartwarming and respectable speech on hip hop being an eloquent youth urban culture seeking peace, love and unity.”

Many parents and members of the community disregard breakdance and hip hop as a social and uplifting tool, often terming it a “waste of time”. The Galaxy Dance Project hopes that these workshops, alongside the performances, and meetings scheduled for parents and community leaders to help them get involved with the project, will change this opinion and help us grow. “We know the hip hop culture may have a bad name, but we also know that it can be a completely positive change, helping drive our community forwards and teaching skills, attitude, kindness, leadership, determination and friendship to our youths.”

Finally, the long awaited perfomance of the evening, provided by the Galaxy Dance Project themselves, “come together”, showed how months and years of training, and weeks of intense rehearsals for an event really pays off. “It gave me a reason to smile and appreciate all that hip hop has done – I could see the kids talents and gifts and I really think the event showed our guest why hip hop is more than just a type of music, and more than just an art form.”

3rd Anniversary: Together we make a difference.

What: 3rd Anniversary of Galaxy Dance Project

Where: AYA grounds, Kawempe, Uganda

When: 25th January 2014. 12pm - 7pm

Cost: Free to all

The Galaxy Dance Project is 3! And so to celebrate, we are holding our 3rd Anniversary event and making it bigger and better than ever!

The theme this year is "Together we make a difference", and the celebration will be full of breakdancing, performances, educational workshops and art exhibitions, designed to bring us together and really make a difference in our community.

Taking place at AYA grounds, Kawempe, the event is free and runs between 12pm and 7pm, with showcases, crew battles, 1 vs 1 and kids competitions, workshops on health, illiteracy and entrepreneurship and a range of electric performances from artists and dance companies from Uganda and beyond.

So come along and join us in our 3rd anniversary to appreciate the culture of hip hop, breakdance and art, and support us in coming together to make a real difference for our friends, family, community and around the world. 

Breakdance teaches Life Skills, Happiness, Ambition & Confidence

For youths who have always fought for themselves, grown up without parents and family, and without a place to call home, working together and feeling a sense of togetherness is far from normal. Teaching Breakdance, or any type of dance, teaches people to work together and be united. By bringing breakdance to those who would have never experienced a family unit, we can change much more than their dance moves and rhythm. We can change their outlook on life.

Many ask how teaching dance can help these youths in the long term. Can learning to dance with the Galaxy Dance Project really make a huge difference? Yes. 

Happiness

Firstly, happiness is a beautiful thing. Being happy can change your outlook and ambitions, can change how you feel about life and can change how you act towards those around you. Happiness brings hope for the future. 

"The kids smile. They are happy when they dance. You can see it in their faces when they accomplish a move or make a new friend. The happiness brought to them through dance is something many have not ever experienced in their life. This can only be a good thing. Everyone needs to feel happy and the Galaxy Dance Project is making that possible".

Confidence

Youths often come to the Galaxy Dance Project with a lack of confidence to learn, to do well and to be around other people. Some of the kids have been brought up in gangs and confidence away from the gang culture is something they have never experienced. The youths come and spend time studying how to perform, they watch their teachers and recognise that confidence is key to learning and developing themselves. Slowly, they learn to perform in front of small audiences until they are confident to attend events, dance in battles and have confidence to perform in front of many people, sometimes hundreds.

Confidence can be a positive in many aspects of life, and the GDP wants to help the youths of Uganda, Rwanda and across Africa to develop this confidence for their future.

Profession & Ambition

Many youths who grow up in slums, orphanages, in gangs or on the streets have no ambition other than to survive. Galaxy Dance Project believes that everyone needs ambition, as ambition is the key to success. Without ambition, people have no drive to change their lives for the better, and without being taught to aim higher from a young age, many youths cannot see how they can, or why they need to change. 

By giving youths a project, something to work towards for themselves, they develop a sense of achievement and a sense of passion. The Galaxy Dance Project aims to provide that passion, whether for dance, music, educating or learning. With ambition and a passion, we can help youths want to do more with their lives, work towards a goal and whether they go on to make a profession from dancing, or just get a career on the back of what they have learnt, the GDP has achieved its goal.

Life Skills

Not everyone begins at the Galaxy Dance Project at the same stage in their life. Children from all ages attend, some who have been dancing for years, some who have only just started, young adults who have spent most their lives on the streets, some who just share a passion for dance and want to take part. However, there are far more skills that are learnt than just how to dance. 

The GDP helps youths become united. It helps them feel part of a family. They are given a chance to learn a skill and learn from one another, many of whom have never had that chance before. However simple some of the life lessons are, they are invaluable - learning how to listen to a trainer and have respect for their elders, having to pay attention to others, having to meet deadlines and fit into a training routine, teaching timescales and organisation - all things that are necessary to improve your way of life, to get a job and earn a living.

As you can see, just teaching kids to dance is not what the Galaxy Dance Project is about. It is about all of the above and more. It is about aspiring to be someone, to be a good person, to provide for your family of the future, to achieve in life and to make a difference in society. This is the Galaxy Dance Project.