BW grad builds hip-hop arts career

Baldwin Wallace graduate Samuel (Sammy Mac) MacIntosh '15, has utilized his arts management and classical ballet and modern dance experience at BW to develop a career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher of hip-hop dance, specializing in the genre known as "popping."

Popping is a form of movement where the artist exhibits control of specific muscles - both contracting and releasing them to accompany the beat of the song or parts of the song, usually through hip-hop.

Advocating for his art

In a profile for Creative Compass, a publication of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC), McIntosh talked about defining hip-hop as a technique-driven art form, advocating strongly for its gravity in American society.

"Though the culture has come a long way, we still don't place enough value on Hip Hop dancing in America yet," he told Creative Compass.

To recognize and support his artistry, CPAC awarded McIntosh a one-year arts administration fellowship.

McIntosh is also part-owner of the Cleveland hip-hop collective known as AyyeDeesMM (or 80's MeetsModern), a group that modernizes old hip-hop. Finally, he raps and writes music.

Hip Hop DNA