RobbC. is a 22 year old music artist, film-maker, and student out of Compton, California. Set to Graduate from UC Irvine in June 16′, Robb plans on pursuing a career in music and film. His sound is versatile and his style heavenly influenced by his personal life experience and those around him. He tells stories that range from his childhood experiences all the way to his now adult life. He is a politically conscious artist who believes in educating and spreading a positive message through his music. We are excited to have Robb perform with us on April 30th at JamXchange!
Jamielle Rankine is a Jamaican born Fashion Designer, Motivational Speaker and Poet. Born in the
ghetto of Kingston, Jamielle learned from an early age that life was not always a bed of roses. Her family
shortly moved to a middle class neighborhood which allowed her the privilege to attend prestigious
elementary and secondary schools, where her love for writing began, and living in a household of mostly
women, she learned of heartache, beauty and the power and strength of a woman.
Jamielle and her family moved to the United States in 2008 and settled in New York. A city filled with
so many creative individuals, and lovers of fashion. This move sparked her always existing passion for
fashion and beauty and she, after failing an attempt as a Marketing Major at Broome Community
College, began working as a stylist. This grew to wanting a career in Fashion Design, and after starting
her family Jamielle, then moved to California and later earned an Associate of Arts Degree in fashion
design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM).
After figuring out what she loved to do, Jamielle ventured into volunteering and now teaches at the
Precious Life Shelter a class called “Finding Fashion and Yourself”, for women who are homeless and
pregnant along with mentoring some of the women there. She began to seek God after her calling, and
that lead her to writing her experiences in the form of poetry. Each gift gifted was being used. Using her
pain, misfortune, happiness, and overcoming sprit, to inspire the people around her. Jamielle now does
freelance designing and is working on her own collection of clothing called “MUMA”. She continues to
motivate others and hopes to become an author of a book of poetry, and an auto biography, in hopes of
allowing God to use her to inspire others with her story.
Meet Jamielle Saturday April 30th at JamXchange!
Mark “Mark W.” Whitlock III, one of Inglewood’s finest emcees, is a man with many
layers. The son of a pastor, an artist, a dancer, and a self-taught pianist, he grew up
an introvert. A student of Hip-Hop at an early age, Mark W. struggled with anger
issues and eventually began writing as a means of anger management. Over the
years, he has grown to use rap and Hip-Hop as a means of expression and his main
vehicle to connect with others. No longer the introverted preacher’s kid, Mark W.
transformed into a playful and outgoing cypher emcee. Charismatic and sarcastic,
his suave and complex delivery instantly captures an audience. Driven by success
and his deep-seeded love of family, Mark W. persistently chases his dreams and
hopes of inspiring others. Highly educated and fun loving, Mark W. is inspired by
extremely passionate individuals who are fiercely devoted to their crafts. His keen
work ethic and multifaceted nature solidify his future place among the highly
regarded and widely recognized emcees of all time.
Obsessive, and at times over-analytical, Mark W. motivates himself and fellow group
members (J.Qwest and Mistah Redd) to employ greatness as their standard for each
verse. Since 2007, Lost Dialect has entertained audiences nationwide with their
thought-provoking and exciting lyrical accounts of self-development and emotional
struggles. Reminiscent of musical pioneers such as Run DMC and The Roots, who
refused to be confined to stereotypical categories of music, Lost Dialect hope to
inspire others to a more communal view of Hip-Hop than current mainstream songs
suggest.
Follow Mark W. on Instagram @MarkWLive and get more on The Tribe at
www.lostdialect.com.
Jannet Galdamez was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She started dancing at the age of 5 years old with ballet and at the age of 15 fell in love with Salsa and Hip Hop. It was at this age she realized that dance was her passion, her career interest. She attended the University of California Irvine, receiving her Bachelors of Arts in Dance and a minor in Education June of 2012… Jannet will be instructing the Beginning Adult Salsa-Jazz Class! Learn more about Jannet at JamXchange on April 30th!
“We need some extra movers at a packing house in Anaheim.”
Packing house? Movers?? That was exactly how UCI Dance Professor Sheron Wray described March 26th to me as well as several other dancers while asking for our help. It’s relevance to dance was quite beyond my knowledge at the time and I wasn’t the only person to have doubts. Little did I know that this day would be filled with plot twists.
At the time, I didn’t realize that this was an event produced by JazzXchange, a non-profit performing arts organization, to expose to the public and give a taste of the Citrus Festival that is to occur in April 9th in honor of Jazz Appreciation month.
And, contrary to my initial thoughts, the alleged “packing house” is actually the Anaheim Packing District where the interior is lavishly decorated by artsy furniture, garnished with touches of history and full of a multitude of unique restaurants that serve food from around the globe in different styles.
Well . . . I thought I would be hauling around boxes of potatoes.
While my day consisted of taking photos and documenting the event under the supervision and mentorship of Annalisa Carrillo-Fulk, one of JazzXchange’s administrative volunteers, Artistic Director Sheron Wray and guest choreographer and UCI alumni Leann Alduenda led the young dance majors around the area to teach them various pieces and perform said pieces in front of the unsuspecting crowd. One of the pieces that certainly turned a lot of heads was Sheron’s tap piece that was taught in the center of the Packing House on the wood floor. Meanwhile, the dancers have also utilized the furniture within the building such as one of Leann’s pieces on one of the tables. Several other dancers choreographed a modern dance on a patio outside of the House and mimicked the same choreography on the different stairways throughout the building.
Instead of the masses attending a dance show, our job today was to bring the show to them.
For the dancers, it’s not a surprise that they’ve performed site-specific work around the UC Irvine campus; however for some such as Jazmine Curie, they’ve never had experience in performing in areas as public as the Packing House.
“It was wonderful to hear the inquiries of passersby and see those intrigued enough to stop and watch. There were a few times I felt bad to be in someone’s way or making them feel they couldn’t interrupt. Looking at it now I think it’s a very interesting social situation.” said Jazmine as she recounted her experience on Saturday.
Of course, there would be more to occur on that Saturday. After the number of surprise performances, one of UCI’s dance majors, Irishia Hubbard, arrived with the intention of conducting three impromptu workshops for the youths at the Packing House.
When I first gave out the announcement that the workshops were going to happen, I expected small groups of girls to approach us with the eagerness to move. We didn’t predict that the turnout would actually be a large group of rambunctious young boys! When Irishia started to warm them up by doing basic dance moves to hit songs, it became obvious that the boys weren’t interested in learning a small hip hop combo but rather kept urging Irisha to host an intense dance battle instead! When Irisha complied with their wishes, March 26th became the funniest and cutest day in my life.
When the event came to an end, everybody was able to leave the Packing House with a story to tell. For me, this mysterious event transformed into a pleasured memory. I learned that nothing is what it seems and that perhaps the result would be pleasantly surprising
Instead of the masses attending a dance show, our job today was to bring the show to them.
Instead of bringing the show to the masses, we brought to ourselves a renewed cognizance of our extraordinary world.
Written by Shannon O’Connor