The Beat hits the street in Fairbanks

The Street Beat urban rhythm troupe arrived at Fairbanks International Airport late last night and this morning hit the streets of Fairbanks on a syncopated mission to bring gritty, hand crafted rhythm and dance to the frozen interior of Alaska.

A full day of workshop and practice will culminate tonight at Dancing with the Cars at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum.

When L.A. based Street Beat hit the tarmack at Fairbanks last night they were greeted by FCA Executive Director Anne Biberman with an armful of spare parkas and were immediately enthralled by the difference between interior Alaska and southern California in February.

Street Beat creator Ben Hansen and his 8-member company of drummers and dancers perform what critics have called “…an urbanized journey through percussion,” which brings the raw rhythmic originality of many popular street-style performances together in a dynamic and thrilling stage production.

The band members are:

• Ben Hansen Creator, Director, Composer & Drummer
• Jacob ‘Kujo’ Lyons Dance Choreographer & Dancer
• iVo Drummer
• Ryan Krieger Drummer
• Robertito Melendez Percussionist
• Sarah Moser Dancer
• Ryan Johnson Dancer
• Valerie Acosta Dancer

Street Beat arrived hungry after a long trip, just after the kitchen closed down, but Darlene, restaurant manager at the Princess, quickly showed up and took matters in hand.  She asked who wanted a sandwich, took orders and got them set up by the fire upstairs. They got ready for a good night's sleep, with a workshop for 80 Lathrop music students on Friday morning and a preview of Saturday's concert at the UAF Dancing with the Cars Friday night

Ben Hansen — Creator, Director, Composer & Drummer

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ben started playing drums at the age of nine and picked up guitar and piano around 16 years of age. At 19, he moved to New York to attend the world-renowned drum school Drummers Collective and returned to accept a full 5-year scholarship to study at the prestigious Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark. After two years at the school he got bored, needed a new challenge, and decided to leave Copenhagen for Los Angeles. Within a few months, he started recording and performing with artists like Grammy winner Robert Reynolds (The Mavericks), Matrix Music Works, Guitarists Andy Walo (Junior Wells) and Mitch Perry (Edgar Winther), Singer/ songwriter Chad Gendason, Matt Salazar (Depswa), and Neil Turbin (Anthrax), among others. He later got deeply involved in the Latin music scene of L.A., playing with all-time greats such as Sal Rodriguez (War) and Bobby Navarrete (Tierra), plus many more. In 2004, Ben started Street Beat as a creative outlet to express the art of drumming, music and performance in new ways.

Jacob 'Kujo' Lyons — Dance Choreographer & Dancer

Kujo's eclectic, hybrid choreography has been called 'drop-dead awesome' by the L.A. Times. In addition to choreographing Street Beat's shows, Kujo runs his own dance company, Lux Aeterna, which regularly performs to sold-out crowds at major hip hop and contemporary dance festivals, such as the San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest and Celebrate Dance. As one of the most respected names in the b-boy world for 18 years, Kujo is internationally recognized for his explosive, unorthodox, and pioneering style. He has competed in major international competitions, and now judges some of the world's biggest b-boy battles. Kujo teaches worldwide, spreading awareness of the dynamic art of breaking in master classes throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

iVo — Drummer

Born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria, iVo started playing music at the age of seven, taking lessons for several years in drum set, piano and vibraphone. At the age of thirteen he began playing percussion professionally with the Philharmonic Pioneer, a symphonic orchestra led by the legendary conductor Vladi Simeonov. He spent the next six years touring North and South America and Europe. He also played drum set, xylophone and vibraphone with modern and traditional rock bands during that time. In 1991, he moved to the U.S. and has since recorded and played with several major artists. In early 2002, iVo released his first solo recording and is currently working on his second. His love for unorthodox approaches to music and his Bulgarian roots make his style, which he calls 'Bulgarian Funk,' unique and recognizable, which has earned him recognition from peers and fans. His love for music also led him to become one of the most in-demand teachers at the Seattle Drum School, where he taught for over seven years. In early 2009, he relocated to Los Angeles and started his own drum school, Drum Lessons Los Angeles.

Ryan Krieger — Drummer

Ryan was born and raised in New Jersey and began playing drums at the tender age of four. His musical abilities as a drummer have allowed him to perform in multiple settings around the world, such as with New York hard rock legends the Cro-Mags, British world music wizard Dr. Didg, funk-fusion experts Global Funk, and west-coast electronica Blusirkut. Ryan relocated to Los Angeles in 2006 and was introduced to Street Beat through a fellow crew member. Since that time, Ryan has proudly remained active with Street Beat and is very excited to deliver high-end drumming performances with his peers.

Robertito Melendez — Percussionist

Robertito, born in New York City, started playing drums at the age of 10. Within a year, Robbie decided to focus congas, bongos, maracas, and guiro and always observed the many Latin musicians that his father would bring over to their house. Robertito believes that because of this early exposure to music, the seed of music, mainly percussion, was firmly planted within him. By the age of 21, he decided to pursue music more seriously as a profession and started working with bands that played various genres of music, such as, R & B, funk, and blues. In 1977, Robertito moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional career in both Latin and pop music. Since then, he has had much success as a freelance musician and percussion instructor and has done countless musical recordings. Robertito has also earned a degree in Theology at the Latin American Bible College, which has helped him to maintain balance within the music industry and his personal life. Sincere influential acknowledgements go out to Perico Hernandez, Francisco Aguabella, Mazacote, Buckey, Johnny Conga, Candido Rodriequez, Ray Armando, Victor Pantoja, Gordo and Alex Figueroa, and Mickey Rivera from North Philly.

Sarah Moser — Dancer

Sarah is a multi-faceted and dynamic performer whose interests have taken her from her beginnings as a dancer, training in all styles of dance, to musical theatre, to aerial and circus work, and from there to martial arts and stunts. She loves to blend and combine elements to create hybrid methods of movement, both unique and complementary. She has worked across Southern California in various productions such as Disney's Aladdin, Sea World's Cirque de la Mer, and Knott's Scary Farm's The Hanging '07 and '08. She currently can be seen dancing with Street Beat, Lux Aeterna, WonderWorld Entertainment, Pirates Dinner Adventure, and KungFuFemmes.

Ryan Johnson — Dancer

Ryan, born in Manhattan and raised on both the east and west coasts, has fused a unique blend of movement styles over the past 15 years. Ryan began his journey with a style of movement called Eurythmy, which was originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century. Ryan has since moved on to earn the level of Black Belt in Karate, and spent years cultivating skills in gymnastics, breaking, popping, locking, commercial hip hop, modern dance and ballet. Since graduating from Middlebury College in the spring of 2006, Ryan has worked proudly in conjunction with the worldfamous b-boy Jacob 'Kujo' Lyons in his innovative and award-winning dance company Lux Aeterna.

Valerie Acosta — Dancer

Valerie, also known as B-girl Val Pal, has been dancing since the age of four, with training in ballet, jazz, tap, gymnastics, hip hop and more. Her main passion is break dancing, and she has been training as a break dancer for about four years. Outside of performing with Street Beat, she also performs nationwide with Cirque Montage and Lux Aeterna. At home, she teaches dance to children and breaks on the Fast Break Crew for the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. Her b-boy/bgirl crew Underground Flow won the World Battle Championships in 2009. Val Pal continues to battle in the hip hop community, and inspires and educates youth about real hip hop.

Check out the FCA Facebook albums for more photos of Street Beat.

Catch the Street Beat tonight at Dancing with the Cars at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum tonight at 6:30 to 10 pm.