SEEDS: Teen Hip Hop Dance Company

SEEDS, ODC and Embodiment Project's Teen Hip Hop Company (Ages 13-18) 

Co-directed by Rama Hall, and Jenelle Gaerlan of Embodiment Project, SEEDS offers students the opportunity to delve deep into hip hop dance training and performance. Styles include popping, house, classic hip hop, waacking, and other street genres. With an emphasis on performance quality and originality, this teen company teaches students to freestyle and perform choreography confidently and passionately.

SEEDS is structured as a pre-professional teen hip hop/street dance company for SF Bay Area students that pairs movement, Liberatory Storytelling™, and restorative justice to help middle-high school youth express their story through their bodies, lift their voice, and learn vital skills to navigate conflict in community.

In this after-school program, a cohort of up to 16 is guided by teaching specialists, and EP and ODC mentors to explore the origins and diverse stylistic variations of hip-hop alongside themes of social justice, racial and gender equity, and other relevant issues. Through workshops, class field trips, and performance opportunities, as well as attendance at Bay Area street dance events, movement is leveraged as a vehicle to speak truth, provoke discussion, and raise awareness of systemic injustice experienced first-hand by youth in our cities.

SEEDS participates in the December Showcase, December 6, 2025; the May Showcase, May 16-17, 2026, and their own dedicated performances on May 3, 2026.


Performance:
ODC School & Embodiment Project: SEEDS Dance Company in "Breaking Ground"
Sunday, May 3, 2026


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Support SEEDS

Spring Audition:
June 3, 2026, 4:30-6pm

Fall Audition & Call-Back:
September 16, 2026, 4:30-6pm
 

Register for the Audition Here

Jenelle Gaerlan:
Rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area by way of Portland, Oregon, Jenelle Gaerlan (she/they) is a Filipinx-American dancer, educator, and choreographer exploring the intersections of tradition, innovation, and identity through movement and storytelling. Her practice is shaped by the continuum of Jazz, Classical Concert, and Street Dance forms, as well as the rich heritage of Filipino Folk and Indigenous Tribal dances. Jenelle’s performance credits include collaborations with DarVejon A. Jones, BodyVox Dance Company, Robert Moses, Nicole Klaymoon of the Embodiment Project, the San Francisco Symphony, Alleluia Panis Dance Theatre, and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Natasha Adorlee. 

Alongside her concert dance affiliations, Jenelle reps Assassins Crew (U.S. chapter based in Washington, D.C.), an international hip-hop collective dedicated to shedding light on community, loyalty and solidarity within street dance scenes around the world, as well as the Legendary International Kiki House of Bodega. She currently serves as Co-Artistic Director of ODC Seeds Dance Company and has recently shared her artistry with Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs as an AileyCamp instructor at UC Berkeley.

Rama Hall:
Rama Hall is a professional performer, teacher, choreographer, organizer, and dancer of over 16 years based out of the Bay Area, California. His main style is House Dance, but he also studies Freestyle Hip Hop, Popping, Locking, Breaking, and other street dance styles, as well as various African Styles, Contemporary, and Capoeira.
Rama started off his dance career also in theater, and is an original core member of the dance theater company Embodiment Project for 16 years, performing for sold-out audiences in the Bay Area and beyond, with their latest production Belly of the Whale that just premiered in April in San Francisco. One of Rama’s greatest passions is teaching dance to adults and youth, and has been regularly teaching weekly classes for the past 13 years, as well as teaching internationally. Rama is a co-director for the youth theater company “Seeds” based out of ODC Dance Commons in San Francisco, and is a Teaching Artist for Destiny Arts Center serving youth in the East Bay. Rama also is a founding member of “Hella House Collective,” organizing events for the Bay Area dance community. Rama has made a name for himself in the battle/competitive House Dance scene in the US and Europe, winning many competitions in the Bay Area, NYC, DC, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo, London, Mexico City, and Peru, and more.
Rama is deeply rooted in community in the Bay Area and internationally, and is a passionate steward and educator of House Dance and Street Dance culture.