Photo courtesy of United Palace of Cultural Arts

As a person who decided for some reason to take up ballet as an adult, I fancy myself a dance aficionado. Well, no . . . not really and "aficionado", but I REALLY, REALLY do love dance. And, the Nutcracker is the pinnacle for many ballet lovers, but the Hip Hop Nutcracker takes the traditional and sometimes stuffy play and turns it on its head, LITERALLY!

The Hip Hop Nutcracker follows the same premise of the Nutcracker, but with an inventive set, exciting choreography, AND break dancing. As an 80’s baby this pleases me greatly!

The show starts with our special guest MC, the LEGENDARY Kurtis Blow. So listen, the first rap song I probably learned all the words to was “Christmas Rappin’”, so I was in 80’s baby hip hop heaven! With the assistance of the DJ (Yes, there was a REAL DJ with turntable) Kurtis Blow took us back and the audience was on their feet jamming to all the hits, from “O.P.P” to “The Message”. This introduction definitely set the tone for what was to be an exciting show!

With a stark backdrop that displays scenes from New York City, we’re transported to an annual uptown holiday street party and introduced to Maria-Clara who is upset about her parents fighting. During this act is where we also meet Drosselmeyer, who brings magical toys to the party. In all of his magic and mystery, he introduces Maria-Clara to a street vendor selling roasted nuts. He’s our “Nutcracker”! At the end of the party Maria-Clara comes up against the Mouse Crew as she heads home, but the Nutcracker with the help of some magic sneakers defeats the Mouse King. After winning the dance battle the Nutcracker and Maria-Clara enjoy winter’s first snowfall together.

As we head into Act II we see Drosselmeyer taking Maria-Clara and The Nutcracker back in time to 1984 and the Land of Sweets Nightclub on one of the best nights of the year, New Year’s Eve. As they watch from the sidelines, Maria-Clara realizes this is the moment that her parents met.

As they return to present day and with some magical help Maria-Clara and The Nutcracker are able to help her Mom and Dad realize how much they love each other, and the show ends with the entire community joining in on the celebration!

The show finishes with the entire crew coming out to jam with Kurtis Blow!!

This is really a show for everyone. It maintains many points of the nutcracker, but makes it its own with the dancing, costumes, and performance. From the jogging suits and Adidas, to the violinist guiding us through the story; the Hip Hop Nutcracker is a must see and is sure to become a Christmas tradition!

Let’s start off by saying we are a clothes horse! When it comes to hip-hop fashion we had it ALL; Cross Colours, Karl Kani, FUBU (we even wore the men’s line before the women’s line came out because we had to have it), Phat Farm, Baby Phat, Rocawear (we still have a mint condition velour jogging suit that we bust out when we want to be vintage), Ecko, and Sean John. So when we heard about Fresh Dressed we breathed a sigh of relief that someone had FINALLY recognized the power of hip-hop fashion and its influence.

The documentary, directed by Sacha Jenkins, was released on June 26th and is available on demand and in select theaters.

What we like the most about this doc is that it doesn’t skimp on telling you the history and paying homage, by including photos and archival footage , along with some very cool animation to tell the story of hip-hop’s growth through fashion. Along with commentary from some of your favorite rappers and producers including Nas, who helped to produce the film, Sean Combs, and Pharrell; and some fashion powerhouses like the always regal, fashion forward, and all around amazing Andre Leon Talley.

Let’s be real, from the very start hip hop fashion set the tone for what is cool and hip in the fashion world; how else can you explain baby hair being the hot new thing?!?! We’ve BEEN seeing baby hair FOREVER! It’s not new, but it definitely shows the influence of the genre and how intertwined our culture is with the world as a whole!

It’s interesting to see how the fashion of hip hop evolved from being “outlaw” to the couture level clothes that are seen in the videos today. As the artist have grown so has what they choose to wear. And members of the hip hop fashion community were not only fashion forward, but also MAD entrepreneurial. Growing up in the Midwest didn’t mean we were unaware of Dapper Dan, but we didn’t know just how amazing he was. He was open 24 hours a day for 8 years and many of his custom pieces are exactly what designers are making today! Or how Cross Colours helped to shift the industry and change the specs of the clothing to embrace what the hip hop heads were wearing and how they chose to wear it. One thing that has stayed consistent throughout its growth is the need for individuality and customization. The discussion on getting custom drawings on your clothing made us want to bust out a pair of airbrushed jeans we’ve been holding on to because, fashion is circular and that trend will be back!

We do wish there would have been more screen time given to the women in urban fashion; while we did rock the male clothing and made it look good there should have been more than a blurb on Baby Phat. Kimora Lee Simmons totally transformed hip hop fashion for women and the Baby Phat line. That line catered to us, and wasn’t just a “let’s throw in some baby tees for ladies” version of a men’s line. It stood on its own two feet, long after Phat Farm started to fade. But we loved the input from female hip hop fashion movers and shakers like April Walker.

One thing that was mentioned that really stood out to us is that the hip-hop fashion consumer is fickle and not loyal. Whereas Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger have been going for decades many hip-hop fashion lines prospered for only a few years. We hope that changes, and soon!

This documentary is a must watch! #1, because who doesn’t love hip hop fashion and it’s time it gets its just due! #2, checking out all the old clothes will definitely give you some outfit inspiration, and #3, it never hurts to learn and some of these kids now a days could definitely use a crash course in their history!

B boys on the street, Brooklyn circa 1983. Photograph by Jamel Shabazz. (c) 2015 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.

Classic street style; Brooklyn New York, circa 1986. Photograph by Jamel Shabazz. (c) 2015 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.

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