General Info

Artist Statement: We believe Hip-Hop's power is edutainment. We want to utilize the Hip-Hop arts movement to increase consciousness, creativity, and universal freedom. We trust that in developing healthy hearts, minds, and bodies we will create strong community foundations of love.

Kuumba Lynx Performance Ensemble (KLPE) brings together diverse groups of people to create interwoven, multi-disciplinary performances that empower us to understand the complexity of the societal issues through working as an ensemble on the production process. KLPE members research, write, and perform their original works for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The ensemble consists of an international cast from vastly different racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic, immigrant and native backgrounds. KLPE seeks to bring a variety of people together to discover the intricacy of our difference, as well as the power of our unity as it relates to social justice and the Hip-Hop Arts movement. KLPE has been bringing groups of young people together to create live performances since 1996. The complexity of America's imperialistic politics and history makes every individual and community story and valuable. The stories we perform, whether devastating, comedic, utterly compassionate, bittersweet, or terrifyingly realistic, are all presented within the context of a unified multi-race group of young people and their communities working toward a more just world. KLPE serves as a model community; one that has been reinvented in order to fill the gaps that so many of us find ourselves falling into within out respective communities that suffer from the various "isms" & "ills" of poverty and simply growing up in America.
KLPE creates and annual touring show that is presented nationally. A 15 minute post performance discussion is provided with each show. The ensemble has performed nationwide sharing stages with Kanye west, KRS 1, Eryka Bahdu, COMMON, DAMM, Danny Hich, Angle Davis, Dennis Kim, Marc Bamuti Joseph, Mango Tribe, and many more. They have performed in Havana Cuba, Mexico City, Atlanta, California, New York, Washington D.C, New Mexico, and South Dakota. KLPE recognition includes the Hip-Hop Congress' Females in Hip-Hop Award presented to co-founders Leida "Lady Col" Garcia and Jaquanda Villegas for their performance work and community ethics, the Gwendolyn Brooks Poet Laureate finalist recognition recieved by Jacinda Bullie and "King Charles" with Chicago FootworKINGz was able to tour with the hit TV show America's Got Talent. In 2009, KLPE spoken word apprentice artist Cydney Edwards earned herself a slot on the Chicago All Star National Slam Poetry Team. The KL 2008 Slam Team won 1st plance in the "Louder than a Bomb" poetry fest and the 2009 team won the "NIKE Black History Poetry Slam".