Babatunji Johnson

I don’t really fit into the box of a specific style. My movement is influenced by various styles of hip hop like Popping, Waving, KRUMP, and breaking, as well as Ballet, Contemporary, and Modern.

I dance the way that I dance because my mind and body have many different stories to tell. Some lovely, delicate, and enthralling, and others rough, loud, and shocking. This is why I couldn’t ever settle with just doing one style. I find that I am able to reach new heights, unlock my greater potential, and tell stories in a more flushed out and intricate way by mixing different movement ideas.

I started dancing around 2007. I had initially been inspired to dance after watching You Got Served and Save The Last Dance. I was also pulled to dance after attending a few school dances where I was always in admiration of the kids who had enough courage to get their backs up off the wall and hit the dance floor, because I certainly was not one of them. The true shift happened when I watched the KRUMP documentary Rize, the freedom of movement and rawness of self-expression that this style of dance illustrated was the gate and key that unlocked my passion for both movement and dance.

My earliest and most memorable dance experience was my first ever performance. My friends from school and I had come together to build a dance crew. We had been dancing only for a few months when it was announced that our school would be hosting a talent show. Though we were very nervous, we decided that it would be a good opportunity to show off what we had been doing. I personally wanted to do the show so that I could prove to everyone in school that I was a real bad ass, cool cat who was out of this world, so that they would all be my friends and put me on a pedestal. What made this performance so memorable was that at the end of our set, when the entire audience broke their silence and rose to a roar, my need for their acceptance and admiration faded away! All that I was left with was the understanding that I was able to be a part of and help facilitate a deep feeling of joy that was being felt unanimously throughout the room. Though it took me a few years before I could trust the feeling, I like to think that this was the moment I found purpose in spreading love and joy through dance.

There are so many people and companies, it’s hard to choose just one.

I believe that dance can disarm the defences of the psyche and can speak directly to the viewers heart. By doing this, it can help open them up in ways that only art can. Dance to me means a way to communicate, to tell stories, a way to share and express my understanding of things, and a way to make meaningful and long lasting change.

I truly love to do both. I feel that both stir the mind and awaken the heart in different ways and they feel equally valuable to me.

Either a video game designer or an interior decorator.

I am an human, who has been blessed and encouraged by so many beings who I love deeply. I share joy, love and movement!

I see myself having my own company and sharing my art all over the world through teaching and performing.