“I’m hoping that eventually the standard reaches a point where we can screen them for audiences.”

That would familiarize those audiences to the hopes and skills of a community that is too often unseen. I’m Katherine Cole.

And I’m June Simms. You are listening to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

Hip-Hop Music and Dance Gaining in Popularity

Young African-Americans in New York are credited with developing hip-hop music and dance more than 40 years ago. Since then, hip-hop culture has become increasingly popular throughout the country and the world. Today, we hear how hip-hop or urban dance has found a new audience among Asian-Americans in Southern California.

Michelle Salazar says something magical happens when these dancers move their bodies. They could be dancing freestyle in a cypher or dance circle, or performing a carefully choreographed routine.

“My first mentor, he said dancing is like touching the face of God. That’s just how I feel.”

Philippine-American Arnel Calvario is one of the first Asian-American urban dancers to gain popularity. He grew up in the 1970s and '80s. He saw other Filipinos as well as African-Americans and Latinos dancing in the streets of his neighborhood in Southern California. In junior high school, he says, he surprised some African-American girls who saw him dance.

“They’d verbally say that 'I’ve never seen an Asian guy dance like that,' you know. And that was a pivotal moment for me. In one sense you can be kind of offended by that. I felt like oh I need to do something about that.”