CLEVELAND — This weekend, Lords of the Land 3: Hip Hop & Street Dance Festival will take place in the home of the Cleveland Orchestra — Severance Music Center.
Samuel McIntosh, founder and executive director of 10k Movement, is ready to showcase Cleveland's hip-hop culture.
The leader of the local non-profit organization spoke with News 5 about seeking to preserve the hip hop culture in Northeast Ohio through street dance.
Since then, events held by the organization have exposed other Cleveland natives to the culture.
"I think more people are starting to latch on or get interested, explore more styles, get interested into battles, and specifically just the different workshops," McIntosh said.
Bringing street dance competitions and high-quality events like Lords of the Land to the Midwest, specifically Cleveland, is a major part of what McIntosh wants to accomplish.
"I think most of the time when people think about street dance, they think about New York, LA, even Chicago... and it's like, well what about Cleveland?" he said.
The birth of the competition happened when McIntosh and his team thought about how they could elevate the Cleveland dance scene.
Three years ago, during the pandemic, Superior Avenue was blocked off for the first Lords of the Land competition, which took place outside at Public Square.
McIntosh explained how great the reception was from the first competition and how much it has improved over time.
"Our third one is probably going to be our biggest one yet," he said.
According to the 10k Movement founder, hip-hop has given people, especially young people in the Cleveland dance community, an opportunity to be heard.
"Hip-hop was created by the youth, so we just have to give them a platform to speak again," he said.
Madeline Lucier, Associate Director at 10k Movement, has worked with McIntosh since the organization began. She noted that as time goes on, the growth continues.
"Each year there's a little bit more that goes into it," she said, "getting funding, and just outreach, trying to grow every year to expand our reach... and our impact."
Sidney Im, a dancer that has been with 10k Movement for two years, talked about the peace hip hop brings her and expressed her excitement for the Lords of the Land competition.
"I'm glad I'm able to...just learn more about it and also represent what it stands for... authenticity, peace, unity, knowledge and having fun," the young dancer said.
Dancers from Cleveland and around the globe are gathering to dance and compete with each other over the next few days.
There are three categories that dancers will compete in:
- Hip Hop
- Popping
- Breaking
The top eight finalists that make it past the preliminary rounds will compete to win the grand prize of $3,000 in cash prizes.
The Lords of the Land 3: Hip Hop & Street Dance Festival begins Thursday and will continue through the weekend. If you would like to get tickets, attend a workshop, or the competition, click here for more information!
