The story of ‘the movement’ begins, like many great stories, with an unlikely meeting…
Ahkai Franklin and Garrett “Spaghetti” Minniti, co-directors of The Breakthrough Outreach & Performance Not-for-profit Company, more commonly referred to as The Breakthrough Movement, met while dancing for Sybarite Artist Development Collective in New York City in 2006. Although they came from very different backgrounds their common passion, energy, and commitment to their art-form drew them together. The two became fast friends, and the “brothers from another mother” began choreographing together right away; fusing their styles and experiences and performing in various venues in and around NYC.
‘I moved to New York City to dance on Broadway, and about 6-months in things took a left turn. Via invitation, one I almost turned down by the way, I found myself training and performing with monsters and icons of the underground dance scene at the time. In the moment I remember instinctively knowing that I was around greatness and wanting to just be there to soak up as much as I could. This became one of the most informative and important training chapters in my life. I found a brother, a creative partner in crime. I found a community of artists that welcomed me into a world of art and movement that I didn’t even know existed, which planted the seed in me to want to truly create a community of our own.
-Garrett ‘Spaghetti’ Minniti
By the following year, under the name In It For Life Productions, Ahkai and Garrett produced their first Off-Broadway Showcase, committed to the idea of finding a suitable venue, specifically one with seating for their audience, and creating opportunity for themselves and the abundance of mind blowing dancers with whom they were performing with in lounges, bars, and underground clubs at the time.
Dance: In It For Life posed a simple question to all in attendance: What makes you In It For Life? The answer included 24 artists, over 60 dancers from across the country (some of whom flew to New York from California, Texas, and Florida to perform), 16 students from 5 different dance studios in the tristate area; and featured styles including Tap, Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Lyrical Jazz, Hip-Hop, House, Break-Dancing, Salsa and Poetry.
From 2007 to 2013, Garrett and Ahkai produced over 30 events, festivals, workshops (in studio workshops before that was a thing), intensives, festivals, choreography showcases, and original productions; all of which, in some way, motivated by the desire to create a community of like-minded artists and bridging gaps between passion and opportunity - an idea that continues to be a primary focus in their work today.
During these same years, Garrett (aka ‘Papa Bear’) began working heavily in the competitive dance industry; judging for national & international dance competitions and festivals, teaching for various conventions and workshops and setting choreography for dance studios, high school dance teams, and even college theatre and dance programs. While on the road, he met dozens of young aspiring performers who, although were talented and passionate, were lacking resources and support to turn that skill into a sustainable career in the arts, OR the opportunity in their local community to continue to keep dance as an active and central part in their life post high school or college.
It was this group of young people who not only inspired, but began the movement.
In October of 2013, The Breakthrough Movement was born.
‘The original intention when beginning ‘the movement,’ was to create opportunity. Gigs. Paid work for ourselves. Professional experiences for our students and an outlet to express our creative energy. Now we realized that what we were actually creating was the foundation of a community. An international, creative community; one that challenges ideas with their art and lives and dances in a way that inspires change within their local communities as part of a global initiative. Making change one artist at a time.’
We began with a group of 7 dancers of completely different backgrounds from across the United States and Canada. A group drawn together not only by their passion for dance and commitment to the art form, but by their common need to 'breakthrough' (if you will) the social, economic, and geographic barriers the place limits on outlets of opportunity. Our ‘crew’ (if you will) debuted as a part of ‘No Limits, a showcase of choreography’ at In It For Life Productions' 2nd Festival of Arts and Education at The Theatre at Saint Clement's in NYC.
In July of 2014, less than one year after our inception, The Breakthrough Movement tripled from 7 to 21 dancers and apprentices now from 3 Canadian Provinces and 9 United States.
Twenty-one of these young artists met in New York City for the first time to workshop the Breakthrough's 1st original production, a classic NYC story of unexpected meetings while waiting for the subway. Similar to what you might see on reality TV, ‘Real World’ style (if you will), for three weeks this eclectic collection of aspiring dancers lived and danced together, laughed and cried together, and pushed their physical, mental and spiritual capacity beyond where they believed it to be.
On top of creating the first 20-minutes of the show and performing the workshop production, the group learned perhaps the most intricate piece of choreography The Breakthrough Movement has produced to date, Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore and flash mobbed it ALL over mid-town manhattan, most infamously in the middle of Times Square as you can see in the video below! This particular shot almost got us arrested. For future reference, it is ILLEGAL to play amplified music in Times Square. I DO NOT recommend you trying this on your next trip to the city.
In July of 2015…
The Breakthrough Movement began the online aspect of our apprenticeship in New Orleans, LA. The Big Easy is the area with the largest concentration of company members and apprentices in the country, which by this time had grown to over 30 young artists from multiple countries. By using technology and social media to rehearse, freestyle and fellowship we are able to bypass the geographic and ultimately size restrictions of a traditional dance company.
The lightbulb moment
Education. Production. Philanthropy. When the vision became clear.
In June of 2016, we collaborated with educators and artists in the beautiful country of Guatemala to create an international initiative for education, collaboration and philanthropy. Something we like to call The Connection Dance Project.
This three-week tour of Guatemala began with a 10-day workshop experience culminating in a weekend of performances with company members from both The Breakthrough Movement and Espiral Danza from Guatemala City! We also had the opportunity to work with Rotary Club Guatemala's 'Pretty Stove' Project. As a company, we raised funds for, and assisted in building, two modernized stoves which provide healthier and more efficient means of heating and cooking for families living rural communities outside of the city.
‘It is our hope and prayer that the seeds planted in Guatemala will grow into something, many things actually, beautiful and strong; artwork and network that will stand for change and progress; opportunities that will continue to grow, unstopping in their expansion beyond boundaries; educational opportunities that we can all latch onto and learn from; art that will be around long after we are all gone.’
— The Breakthrough Movement
From its inception in 2013 to the end (if you will) of the movement’s 1st chapter, our community had grown to almost 50 young artists from over a dozen dance studios spanning multiple states and countries.
A community of young artists drawn together from their common commitment to dance and the desire for community and connection within in the entertainment industry.
Over the next few years (2017-2020) we created what we call The Breakthrough Experience workshop, where we incorporate the three main principles of our vision (education, production and philanthropy) into an in-studio workshop experience! Suggested tuition and donations taken for the 3-day event are given to a local community project, and culminates in a video production shoot and music video for the studio!
The second chapter in ‘the movement’s’ story really begins in 2020.
Now, more than ever, we believe that drawing our communities closer together is essential to our survival, let alone professional or artistic achievement. We are living in a time of social distancing and self isolation; a time of derision, divisiveness, and division. We believe that artistic expression plays a vital role in forcing social introspection, provoking change and the releasing of ideas that are damaging to or no longer of service to the greater good of our global community and collective humanity. We believe that artistic expression is an essential part our healing process and a gateway to finding common ground so that we can move forward together.
In the wake of recent current events, including the emergence of Covid-19 global pandemic and even more recent murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis City police officer Derek Chauvin, we here at The Breakthrough Movement, like everyone across the world, have taken a step back to evaluate the aspects of life that are truly important. We have taken time to be thoughtful with how we want to use our talents, and more importantly our voice, moving forward. Beyond creating art, we have already began conducting interviews and forums discussing some of these issues in an attempt to provide additional resources and perspective to contribute to the movement. We understand that these are uncomfortable discussions to have, however we must wade our way through them on the journey forward, and beyond that in the interest of finding healing, justice, and change.
-Ahkai Franklin and Garrett ‘Spaghetti’ Minniti, co-founders
‘‘The original intention when beginning ‘the movement,’ was to create opportunity. Gigs. Paid work for ourselves. Professional experiences for our students and an outlet to express our creative energy. Now we realized that what we were actually creating was the foundation of a community. An international, creative community; one that challenges ideas with their art and lives and dances in a way that inspires change within their local communities as part of a global initiative. Making change one artist at a time.’.
— Ahkai Franklin and Garrett ‘Spaghetti’ Minniti, co-founders