Costa Rica
In 2024, five Hip Hop artists traveled to Costa Rica as part of the Next Level program. Kara Janelle (Dancer), Rokmore (Beatmaker), Exacto (Beatboxer), and Queena Bergen (MC) joined Site Manager Pinqy Ring to perform for audiences and collaborate with local artists to promote cross-cultural creative exchange and conflict transformation. Team Costa Rica is part of a larger Next Level cohort of American MCs, DJs, beatmakers, beatboxers, aerosol artists, and Hip Hop dancers seeking to create a global community through Hip Hop culture.
The Next Level Academy was held at the University of Costa Rica in their Caribbean Campus. They provided separate spaces for the 4 workshops to be held as well as an auditorium that was used for Orientation, a Conflict Transformation workshop, an Entrepreneurship Day, and Rehearsal. The Jam Session / Collaboration was held at the Salom Comunal Cahuita. Led by the Comité de Cahuita, the goal of these community elders was to preserve Limon culture, including the creole language and calypso music. The jam was conducted with legendary KAWE Calypso, a calypso group whose mission is to save calypso music and culture led by Danny Williams. Grupo Dancestra, a calypso dancing group joined the jam session. The jam was open to the public, and along with guests and artists invited by the Comité de Cahuita and WCBM (including legendary MC and calypso performer Mike Joseph), people from the street came into the space and joined in.
Laura Bustillos from LaBu Productions was the videographer and photographer throughout the residency. She held a Videography masterclass titled “Smart Device Filmmaking 101” in which she taught participants about basic framing and camera movements. She talked about lighting for different skin colors, and covered social media topics such as music copyrights and apps for editing videos.
The final show, hosted at Casa de la Cultura de Limon, was a successful culmination of all of Team Costa Rica’s hard work and dedication. Hosted by Nakury, a Costa Rican MC also from the Caribbean, the event was about 3 hours long and DJd by local collaborator and beatmaking participant Kidhendrix. The show was “sold out”, with 155 guests.
Next Level Costa Rica
