Michele Byrd-McPhee is the founder and Executive Director of Ladies of Hip-Hop. Byrd-McPhee has been working for many years to re-contextualize spaces and conversation of Hip-Hop culture along gender, sex, cultural and socio-historical and racial lines for decades. She also situates the arts and dance techniques in spaces that honor and acknowledge their roots and the many creative pioneers who have shaped them. This is especially important given the ways in which Black dance has been co-opted into studio appropriation – given its community cultural origins.
Michele Byrd-McPhee earned her BS from Temple University and an MS in Nonprofit Arts Management from Drexel University. She has also spent the last 10 years working as a production coordinator at Brooklyn Academy of Music and then as a Senior Music Coordinator at Late Night with Seth Meyers. She also currently serves as the Chief Strategic and Artistic Advisor for It’s Showtime NYC!, besides her ongoing commitment to the Ladies of Hip- Hop Festival.
Resources + Media Mentions
- The Studio Creative Arts Community published a blog post on “Upcoming Events with Ursula Rucker.”
- Madison Mondays is an Isthmus Pick for the week of October 22-29!
- Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival
- Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival YouTube Channel
- Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival Instagram
- “Q&A: UW prof Duane Lee Holland, Jr. locks into a new space for hip hop,” courtesy of The Capital Times.
- “At What Point Does Appreciation Become Appropriation?,” courtesy of Dance Magazine
- 2020 (LOHH) Ladies Battle Hip-Hop Recap (video)
- 2020 (LOHH) Ladies Battle House Recap (video)
- 2020 (LOHH) Ladies Waacking Recap (video)
- 2018 Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival Week (video)
- “Centerwork: Not Such a Man’s World,” courtesy of Dance Magazine
Image courtesy of the artist.