Around MSD - Maryland School for the Deaf

Hip Hop Celebrity
Rocks MSD!
MSD at Frederick Campus had no idea how much hidden
hip hop talent roamed the halls until a special
presentation was held on October 11th . It all began in
a high school speech class where students discussed the correlation
between music and dance. Because of the students’
interest in hip hop, contacts with dance professionals began.
Pursuing several leads, a dance group, Danz-N-Motion
from Germantown, Maryland, was contacted. Lauren
Katsikopoulos, the studio owner, was intrigued that a deaf
school was interested in the connection between hip hop and
music. Soon a plan to motivate students and expose them to
music and dance simultaneously expanded into a school-wide
assembly involving third through twelfth graders.
The assembly featured choreographer and dancer Brian
“Bizzy” Linder who appeared in the movie Stomp the Yard 2:
The Homecoming. Bizzy agreed to come to MSD at no charge,
demonstrating his dancing and sharing several stories of
his life with students. Loving dance from an early age but
unable to afford dance lessons, Bizzy learned many of his
initial moves as he watched dancers on TV and in movies.
In addition, Lauren brought one of her own hip hop dance
teachers, as well as two of her advanced students to help with
the show. They began the show by showcasing their teacher,
Amanda, and two advanced students, Rina and Kelsey. Next
Bizzy enthralled the students with a very energetic dance
that left him sweating and panting. The students showed no
mercy and asked him to show them some more moves. At the
Donte Thomas, Vincent Kong, Brian “Bizzy”
Linder, Mike Haywood, Sagar Patel
Around MSD
request of one student, he easily slid across the floor demonstrating
Michael Jackson’s “Moon Walk.” The applause from
the students for Bizzy was tremendous. After the routines, the
students had many insightful questions for Bizzy. His most
important message was to “never give up on your dream.”
The final part of the assembly was an opportunity for
students and staff to volunteer to perform their own special
dance moves on stage. To the delight of all, students and
staff demonstrated many unique styles. Lauren and Bizzy
were extremely impressed by the dance talent and physical
prowess that they witnessed. Hip hop talent roams the
halls at MSD!
—Lisa Gastelle, Communication
Specialist, FC, lisa.gastelle@msd.edu
Nadasha Harvey wows the crowd with her intricate moves.
BACK Donte Thomas, Amanda (Danz-n-Motion teacher),
Mike Haywood, Kelsey and Rina (Danz-N-Motion advanced
students), Sagar Patel FRONT Vincent Kong
WWW.MSD.EDU19