Los Angeles, CA (June 1, 2023) — Actress, dancer, choreographer, and first-time documentary film director, Ariyan Johnson shares her personal journey about the struggles and triumphs of her two conflicting loves: Hip Hop and the Church in this first installment of her docuseries Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church, which will have its Los Angeles debut celebrating this year’s 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop during the Dances with Films, the defiantly independent film festival, at the TCL Chinese Theatres on June 28 at 4:45 p.m.

Unpacking the late 1980s-90s through research and interviews with pastors, historians, artists, and pioneering women hip-hop dance artists, the film explores the burgeoning industry of Hip Hop and its challenge for acceptance within the Church. Correlating elements where the Deejay is the Worship Leader; the Graffiti (the art and style) is Black Church aesthetics; the Emcee is the Preacher where the sermon becomes the dance; the B-Boy/B-Girl is the Liturgical Dance Ministry where the dance becomes the message; and Knowledge as the Word of God (Bible) is what unites a people as a community through culture. This first installment of Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church has a running time of 36:44.

Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church begins with Johnson’s research connecting Hip Hop culture, dance, and spirituality in the church, whereas subsequent documentaries in this series will focus on other untold stories of Spiritual Cyphers that interconnect with Hip Hop.

Johnson exclaims, “I am constantly engaged with innovative ways in developing platforms for storytelling and the intersection of Hip Hop and spirituality hasn’t been explored through a feminine dance lens until now. I am beyond excited about the fact that 2023 marks the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop and I get to share my story now.”

Dances with Films, LA’s defiantly indie festival, heads into its 26th year, championing the unflinching spirit at the very core of the independent film scene. While the vast majority of film fests rely heavily on celebrity, we have relied on the innovation, talent, creativity, and sweat equity that revolutionized the entertainment industry. And that reliance continues to prove successful with alumni moving on to write, direct and produce celebrity-studded vehicles, star in blockbuster movies and television series, produce multimillion-dollar films and create hit TV shows. Oh…. and we even have several OSCAR® nominees… In a world of homogenized, formulaic film festivals, DWF continues to defy the rules.

Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church has and will be screened at the following film festivals:
– Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival: April 2023
– International Christian Film Festival: May 2023 Nominated for Most Creative
– Harlem International Film Festival: May 2023
– American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers: May 2023
– Women of African Descent Film Festival: June 9/10, 2023 Opens the Festival featuring a Reception and Special Screening and Panel Discussion
– Columbia Film Festival: June 20-24, 2023
– Dances with Films: June 22-July 2, 2023

WHO:
Ariyan Johnson, Director, is a native New Yorker, who founded her company D.I.M.A.B.A. in 1991. Degrees In Movement Arranged By Ariyan was created to educate, spiritually uplift, and build community by using a multi-artistic lens through an African American storytelling experience. Ariyan is a graduate of LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts where she studied dance as well as a merit scholarship recipient at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre School, Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance, and Chautauqua School of Dance. She holds a B.A. from Lehman College in Speech Pathology and Audiology and an M.A. in Applied Theatre from CUNY SPS. She is a multi-disciplinary artist, a pioneer of Hip Hop dance, an award-winning dance filmmaker, an Independent Spirit Award best female lead nominated actress for one of the first female Hip Hop coming of age stories that won the Sundance Special Jury Prize – Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. Some other credits include Law and Order; J.A.G.; The General’s Daughter with John Travolta; Bulworth with Warren Beatty and Halle Berry, where she depicted a rapper influencing Hip Hop culture onto the political landscape; and a series regular on The Steve Harvey Show. As a professional dancer, she has either danced, choreographed, and toured worldwide for an array of artists such as L.L. Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Chaka Khan, Ms. Melodie, Ya Kid K, 2 in a Room, Mary J Blige, SWV, Mariah Carey, and many more. A former member of Abdel Salaam’s Forces of Nature Dance Theatre and Ronn Pratt’s Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance companies where she began her site-specific work exploring jazz-based dances of protest with Eleo Pomare’s Dancemobile. Her community work continued throughout her tenure as Artistic Director/Resident Choreographer of Faithful Dance Company working with deaf participants and creating interactive performances at Faithful Central Bible Church’s first-of-its-kind, Black-owned family-friendly entertainment 18,000-seated FORUM arena. Johnson’s strong female perspectives within the African Diaspora culture are highlighted in publications like her online article Dancing Goddesses found in the Hip Hop Dance Almanac and the upcoming Routledge book Dance in US Popular Culture. Presently she is an Assistant Professor at UCI, and the 2022-2023 CUNY Dance Initiative Dance Resident at Queensborough College, she was awarded the 2022-2023 Hellman Fellows, the 21st Century Creativity Research Grant for 2020-2021, as well as being the three-time recipient of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Artist-in-Residence grant. She will make her directorial documentary debut with Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church.

• Mike Ziemkowski, Editor
• Frances DeLoach, Editor
• Charlie Jordan Brookins, Producer
• Desha Dauchan, Film Consultant
• Phyllis Bancroft, Producer
• Leslie Saltus Evans, Producer/Director of Photography
• Kathleen S. Turner, PhD, Interviewee/Consulting Researcher/Producer

WHEN: Wednesday, June 28, 2023; 4:45 p.m.
WHERE:
TCL Chinese Theatres
6925 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028

TICKETS: $19

HOW:
• More information regarding the Los Angeles screening: 

SPIRITUAL CYPHERS: HIP-HOP AND THE CHURCH • More information regarding the Dances with Films Festival: 

Home • Visit us on Instagram: 

Instagram (@ariyanjohnson) • Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church trailer: 

Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop + The Church Trailer

MEDIA VIEWING & REVIEWS:
Please contact sgordon823@gmail.com<mailto:sgordon823@gmail.com> to rsvp to attend the screening at TCL, to receive a link to view online, or to schedule an interview with Ariyan Johnson.