Dance summit showcases women in hip-hop

Stepping into the spotlight Bong has taken on leadership roles in hip-hop ever since she formed her first dance company at age 16. She’s the executive director of UniverSOUL Hip Hop, a multicultural group of socially engaged dance practitioners she founded in 2014 with a mission to bring community, justice and joy into communites through dance programs, performances and productions. In 2018, she established Kaufman Connections, a program that sends Bachelor of Fine Arts students from USC Kaufman to teach hip-hop dance to students at 32nd Street Elementary School, adjacent to USC’s University Park Campus. Also in 2018, Bong founded the Cypher Summit as a biennial forum for hip-hop dance leaders to gather and discuss topics that are important to the community. The first summit centered on the challenges of integrating hip-hop, a community-based art form, into academia. The 2022 summit was themed around sisterhood — and it was such a powerful event that Bong knew she had to plan a sequel this year. “It felt like the conversation was just starting,” Bong recalls. “We’re building off of that momentum.” This is the first year Bong has collaborated on the Cypher Summit with Visions and Voices. “The collaboration allows us...