Volume 6-1 | June 2019
Many Cultures - One Love
I've got Russian hip hop and old school Double Dutch for ya!
Russian Hip Hop in DC
If I had made a list of a hundred places I’d like to go - Russia would not have made the cut. Why not? It’s America’s arch enemy. Russians are always the villains doing the killings in any spy movie, and current headlines do nothing to change that perception.

But my perception has changed. 

Last September, DC Retro Jumpers, the double Dutch team I founded, toured three cities in Russia as cultural envoys. And this month, we got to return the favor. Two Russian hiphop artists visited DC. Beatboys Bobisch and Smol, spread the ‘"many cultures - one love" message to several audiences here in Washington, DC.

One of the surprises for me on my trip is how much hip hop culture is embraced in Russia. As you might guess, I never expected to have a Muscovite tell me that Ol’ Dirty Bastard was his all-time favorite rapper, or to see Russians breakdance to Kurtis Blow, or to meet one who did his master’s degree thesis on hiphop music.

Check them out in this picture showing dance moves to students at ARTLAB, the after-school program at The Hirshhorn Museum.


Many Cultures - One Love
Bobisch and Smol began their cultural exchange in DC with a class led by Dr. Carolivia Herron at Howard University, The students were a little skeptical, at first - Russian hiphop? But an entertaining and dynamic conversation and show took place.This picture was taken at the conclusion of the class.They also did a warmly received show at St. Elizabeths Hospital.

Thanks to Dr. Herron, Emily Monahan and Onrae Watkins for making these programs happen. My double Dutch homegirls, Carlyle Prince, Myra Morgan, and Robbin Ebb made sure they got around town and checked out the hip hop display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. These hip hop artists absolutely loved it - eventually the members of DC Retro Jumpers had to go home and left them in the museum, still soaking up all the musical cultural richness on display.

And most of all, thanks to my fellow artists from Russia for enlarging my cultural boundaries.

Check out more pictures on Instagram: #joyjones1433.
Russian Hip Hop Artists and Dr. Herron's class.
Let's Jump In July!
Summertime Double Dutch
Double Dutch has been good to me - why not let it do you some good?

DC Retro Jumpers is offering free double Dutch sessions starting July.9, 2019. We'll meet every Tuesday thereafter for the month of July - Tuesday, July 9, 16, 23, and 30 from 6:30 p.m - 7:30 p.m. Come to relive old school days jumping rope or come to learn how for the first time.

Meet us at North Michigan Park Recreation Center,1333 Emerson St. NE, Washington
Washington, District of Columbia 20017.

Free.