We just want to dance, and pass on what was passed to us.
B-Side Bloom is a Hip-Hop collective in Calgary and area. We teach in schools and communities, help other artists get funded to teach, and keep this site free for anyone.
It's not that deep. But doing it right takes money, and we've been at this a long time. Bring us in.
Assemblies, class days and residencies, taught by artists from the crew, who get paid fairly.
Finding grants that fit and putting the application together, so more artists can afford to teach.
Tracks on where it all started, places to practise without gear, and a Jam Planner for organizers. No accounts, and we don't track visitors.
Why bother? Most of what stops people getting into Hip-Hop, or teaching it, is money, time or paperwork. Turntables and paint add up before you even know if you like it. There are great local artists who'd teach more if it paid, and grant forms scare a lot of them off. Schools can get funding for artist visits, but most teachers don't have time to chase it.
Credits
Breaking, krump, house, Hip-Hop and more. Most of us started because it was fun. Still is.
We're not registered yet. We're working toward becoming a not-for-profit.
Breaking since 2011, from Regina to Calgary. Reps The Alpha Kids, Kybalion and Ayo Bruv. Has won One For The City and YYC Driven, and judges battles across the Prairies, including Bridge the Gap in Regina, where he also spoke on a panel about Hip-Hop. Five years coaching youth. Big on fundamentals, but wants every dancer to look like themselves.
The set list
What a school visit usually looks like. Teachers don't need any Hip-Hop background. That part's our job.
- StartWe set up
Speaker, music and a quick hello. The room feels like a jam, not a lecture.
- ~5 minThe showcase
A few minutes of each of our styles. It gets the room's attention fast.
- ~15 minOne story, told live
One story from the tracks, like the 1973 back-to-school party in the Bronx. Short, and out loud.
- ~25 minEverybody moves
Foundations anyone can do: a bounce, a step, a freeze. Teachers too, if they want.
- ~40 minThe cypher
We finish in a circle. Anyone who wants a turn gets one, and nobody is put on the spot.
An assembly for the whole school. Showcase, one story, everybody moves.
Half or full day, class by class. One element per session, like Breaking or DJing, each ending in a class cypher.
The same group over several weeks or one full week, ending with a jam for families.
Every visit is quoted to fit your school. Schools can often cover it with an arts-in-education grant, and we'll help you apply. Tight budget? Ask about reduced rates. Travel outside Calgary and Okotoks is extra.
Let's get it funded.
Grant applications are a lot of work. I've been through it enough times to know where people get stuck. If you're a dancer, DJ, MC, writer or OG who wants to teach, I can help with all of it: finding the grant, the writing, a budget that actually pays you, and the report after.
No promises. Grants get turned down all the time. I'll be straight with you about your chances, and if B-Side Bloom is applying to the same fund, I'll tell you upfront.
VinsonTell me what you're working on →
P.S. Doing it yourself? The free Grant Writing Guide is coming to Community Tools.
For funders
Money goes to paying artists, funding visits for schools that couldn't afford them otherwise, and keeping this site free. We'll show you where it went.
Talk to us about funding or partnering →Work with us
Schools, artists, funders, anyone. A little about what you have in mind is enough, and we'll get back to you. For schools, that means dates, a plan and a quote.
Or email hello@bsidebloom.ca
Small print
About the collectivewho we are, where we're headed
B-Side Bloom is a Hip-Hop collective, working toward becoming a registered not-for-profit. It's separate from Artist Avenue. Some of us also teach there.
We're five dancers based in Calgary and area, including Okotoks, with roots in Saskatchewan. Bookings and grants pay artists and OGs fairly, and keep this site free, with no logins, ads or data collection.
For schoolswhat we need, curriculum links
- A gym or open space, a speaker plug, and a teacher in the room the whole time.
- We bring the music, the moves and the stories. No Hip-Hop background needed from anyone.
- Links to Alberta's K to 6 Physical Education and Wellness curriculum: movement skills, movement elements, and combining skills into patterns.
- Principals can preview everything we talk about right here on the site.
Safety and carehard topics, young people
- Serious history is told plainly, without graphic detail.
- Nobody is put on the spot in the cypher. Watching and hyping counts.
- Sessions can be adapted for different abilities and sensory needs. Tell us what your group needs.
- No student data is collected on this site. Progress stays in each person's own browser.
Funding a visitgrants and where to look
Alberta's Artists and Education grant can cover part of a residency, and the school applies. We'll send our part of the paperwork and help you write the rest.
For schools
Writing a grantwhat we've picked up
- Think of it as advocacy. A grant isn't begging. It's making the case for your students and your community. You don't need special training to write one, just your ideas in the right order.
- Start local and small. Local and municipal grants are less competitive than provincial or national ones. A first project in the $1,000 to $10,000 range is a good start, and local funders become relationships.
- Talk to the grant officer. Call or email before you apply. Their job is to answer questions. If you get a “no,” ask for feedback: most public funders will give it.
- Answer the six questions. Who, what, where, when, why and how. Then boil it down to a 100-word pitch. That pitch becomes the backbone of every application.
- Gather support material early. A short bio, photos or video, a teacher quote, and a letter of support. Offer to draft the letter so the school or partner only has to edit and sign it.
- Write three drafts. Draft one is the facts. Draft two matches the funder's own criteria and words. Draft three goes to someone who knows nothing about it, for an outside read.
Do
- Match the assessment criteria, point by point
- Explain culture words: cypher, battle, freestyle
- Show the impact on people and the community
- Use a realistic budget with named roles and hourly rates
- Plan 3, 6 and 12 months ahead, and track deadlines
Don't
- Fill every inch of the page
- Assume the reader knows Hip-Hop
- Criticize other artists or programs
- Lead with financial need. Lead with the result
- Make anything up, especially about land or Indigenous connections. Say what you're doing to learn
We learned most of this through Unity Charity's breaking incubator, starting in 2024. Thanks for passing it on.
Where this comes fromwho we learned from
- Cornell Hip Hop Collection. Flyers, photos and the archives of pioneers like Grandmaster Caz and Afrika Bambaataa.
- The Smithsonian. Grandmaster Flash's turntable and mixer, and the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap.
- Books and films. The City of Hip-Hop, Can't Stop Won't Stop, Steven Hager's Hip Hop, Style Wars, Wild Style.
- People who lived it. Interviews with pioneers, and the OGs and teachers who passed it on to us.
Every track on this site lists its samples at the bottom.
Where our name comes fromb-side bloom
A B-side is the other side of a record. It's the side that didn't get the radio play, where DJs went digging for the breaks that Hip-Hop was built on. Bloom is about growth, and about giving people their flowers: credit while they're here to receive it. Put together, it's what we try to do: dig past the hits, and give credit where it's due.
Where we are
We live and teach in Calgary and area, including Okotoks, on Treaty 7 territory: the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Piikani and Kainai), the Tsuut'ina, and the Stoney Nakoda (Chiniki, Bearspaw and Goodstoney) First Nations, and home to the Métis people of Alberta. Hip-Hop teaches us to give credit where it's due, and that starts with the land.