This is a wonderfully written article that gives insight into the business side of operating Massive Monkees. Mixing business, art and community is a not an easy task. There is no set path, no tutorial and no example to model. Yet this crew seems to develop and succeed through every hurdle. Julie Pham, writer at Forbes and student at The Beacon helps tell the story.
Did you catch Mini BREAKS on PIE last night!?
We missed it! We caught the end of the show with Caspar Babypants performing for a bunch of cute little ones but no Mini BREAKS. Then we remembered to check online and watched it on KCTS-9… the segment was SO CRAZY AWESOME!!!! We LOVED watching our wonderful mini b-girl and b-boy friends dance and have fun! It was so amazing to be able to watch the Mini BREAKS experience through KCTS 9′s fantastic lens – we think the spirit of the class was perfectly captured!
This episode of PIE will re-air on Sunday and Monday at 7pm and 11pm. If you want to watch it now, here’s the video for you to enjoy!
Thank you to Aileen Imperial and KCTS 9, as well as Amy O’Neal who was the little bird who whispered into Aileen’s ear about our Mini BREAKS class – this feature wouldn’t have been possible without you two wonderful ladies!
If you still have not caught a Mini BREAKS class with your toddler or preschooler – hopefully this video convinces you to check one out!
In class, we show our students examples of breakin’ (break dance) moves to try as well as facilitate imaginative movement warm-ups, but our emphasis for this age group is to encourage self-expression and explore the different ways that their bodies can move. We want to give young children from ages 2-6 the opportunity to create, share and be appreciated as important members of our community. We believe breakin’ and Hip-Hop are powerful vehicles in which to do this!
Speaking of classes – we will be adding a 4-week Tuesday morning dance class on April 16th in addition to our Saturday afternoon class! We have a special package deal for our Tuesday morning classes – purchase all four classes for just $40 HERE on our online store! That’s a $20 discount versus the $15/class drop-in fee. 
If you are new to the Massive Monkees Studio: The Beacon, for a limited time you may also purchase a 5 or 10-class punch card at over 50% off the regular price on Groupon! Check out the deal HERE.
Thank you to all the families who support Mini BREAKS – we deeply value the opportunity to teach and dance with your beautiful children. See you tomorrow afternoon for Super Saturday at 2pm!
Once upon a time in 1999 two crews, MASSIVE and Untouchable Style Monkees, decided to join forces to show the world that Seattle was a force to be reckoned with in the hip-hop scene…
In the 14 year journey that followed, none of us in our wildest dreams could have ever imagined that we’d have such an impact on the world through our dance and community focus. Thankfully many people in our journey saw our potential and were kind enough to inspire us, coach us, and at times – kick our butts to ensure that we got to the next level. In 2004, one of these people was former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickles who was brave enough to proclaim April 26th as the official Massive Day in Seattle. Despite the fact that we had only really been around for 5 years, he was very impressed with that fact that we were able to bring a world title back to Seattle all while teaching, coaching and mentoring the next generation of Seattle dancers in parallel.
As we get ready to celebrate our 14 year anniversary at the Showbox on April 13th, I’m proud to confidently say that Mayor Nickles made a wise investment in us. Since 2005, we’ve organized an annual event to celebrate Massive Monkees Day that has morphed into an engagement tool to reach thousands of urban youth in Seattle and across the world to promote productive, positive & healthy life choices for urban youth through arts & dance. Coupled with the launch of our dance studio (the Beacon) and our non-profit organization (Extraordinary Futures) this year’s Massive Monkees Day is really positioned well to help us reach the current and next generation of aspiring dancers.
From an entertainment perspective, we’re laser focused on making Massive Monkees Day better every year and 2013 is no exception. This year we have the nation’s top dancers flying in to battle it out for $1,500 and perhaps more importantly, the respect associated with winning one of the best jams in the United States. While B-boy competitions around the world are happy with one or two DJs, we’ve doubled down on our investment in music by brining in almost every heavy hitter who has ever spun at an MM Day in the past including Soul One, DV One, the Seattle Zulu DJ crew, Lean Rock (Boston) and the return of blesOne after a 3 year hiatus making music with his band Don’t Talk to the Cops (shout out to FeverOne who is judging this year instead of spinning). In addition to the DJ line-up we’ve rounded out the night with some outstanding guest performers including Big World Breaks, Nu Era, Dyme Def, and One Be Lo. And finally to top off the weekend, we’ve curated a list of the world’s top dance instructors who will be teaching at the Beacon and sharing their gifts with the Seattle community (schedule here).
Every single dollar of profit from this event goes into funding our free after school program at the Beacon along with our free classes offered in Burien thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. We humbly invite you to support us on our journey and to enjoy a truly outstanding night of entertainment with some of the best dancers, DJs, and emcees that our culture has to offer.
Tickets ($20) are available at the door, through AXS, or at the Beacon. Check out our Facebook event page for full details and for an opportunity to win a pair of free tickets to the event.
Thanks for all your support over the years. With your help, we can double our impact on youth in Seattle in 2014 and change lives through art & dance.
#MMDAY2013
Joe “JoRawk” Stolte
Executive Director | Extraordinary Futures | @ExtrdnryFutures
Massive Monkees Crew | @Massive_Monkees
Seattle hosted this year’s WeDay Conference at the Key Arena, and Massive Monkees had the honor being a part of this amazing event. Sharing the stage with Jennifer Hudson, Magic Johnson, Gary Payton, MC Hammer, The Seahawks, Macklemore, Kid President and new friends RNG Dance Crew. The line up of guests were brought together to share their inspiring stories and ideas with local youth
We Day Seattle brought together 15,000 young people to celebrate the power of youth to create positive change in their local and global communities. You can’t buy a ticket to We Day – you earn it through service. We Act is a comprehensive service learning program that supports schools and youth groups in taking tangible action to make a difference in the world. Groups take on one local and one global action and report back to Free The Children to earn their way to We Day. In turn, schools and groups get tools and resources to make their We Act commitments come to life. More than an event, We Day celebrates a movement of young people leading change through We Act. For more information visit WEDAY.ORG
Thank you Aaron Yeung and http://
