Stories

Stylist Kimberley is happy to bring that extra sparkle to your eyes

As a stylist, Kimberley Wenas creates the looks for big names, such as Jayh Jawson, Anna Nooshin, and Kim Feenstra. Who was her own game changer, who motivated her to pursue her dreams?

Who was your big game changer in your life?

That’s my grandma. Unfortunately, she is no longer there, but she has given me the insight that you have to go after your dreams. And that anything is possible. She’s been teaching me that since she was a little.

My mother passed away six years ago, and then I moved in with my grandmother. As a result, our bond has become even more intense. That was also the period when I started styling. She has been through the whole beginning. I shouted at the time that I wanted so badly to style Anna Nooshin. And she always said, “Oh, you’re definitely going to succeed, just wait and see.”

The environment in which my grandmother used to work herself is also similar in certain ways. Although that was more than half a century ago, and on the other side of the world. She was born in Indonesia, and after the war she went to work there as a hairstylist and make-up artist. She traveled with stars, walked around on the sets to do the hair and makeup. My grandmother was a beautiful woman to see. She also occasionally ran fashion shows.

Even though she can’t experience what I do anymore, and what big names I work with, I’m sure she would have been proud. I find it very special that I have achieved this thanks to her support.

I am also inspired by everyone I work with. That’s also something I’m consciously looking for. Otherwise, I can’t get satisfaction out of it. I want to work with people who give me energy. And it often works both ways. I think that with my ideas and creativity I can also inspire the people I work with.

At what moments do you feel like a game changer yourself?

Sometimes I give master classes at Grafisch Lyceum. Then I tell about my career, not even my private story, and then I notice that students get inspired by that. They come up to me and say, now that I’ve heard your story, I want to achieve that too! I always try to motivate them to go after their dreams. I say to them: don’t let anyone tell you that not can not do something. As long as you stay close to yourself.

During styling I sometimes get that beautiful feeling that I mean something to someone. Kim Feenstra, for example, is already super-cool of herself. But if I add a certain element, that little perd, I see how she can feel even more beautiful. Then she gets that little sparkle in her eyes. I help someone to feel even more confident. I think that’s really nice.

Where can we follow you?

Instagram: Kimberlywenas

Falinda ‘DJ Mixturess’ doesn’t have to chase fame anymore

Falinda Tengku Khuzim, also known as DJ Mixturess, has been playing records for almost fifteen years. We talked to her about the game changers in the hip-hop and DJ scene, and getting closer to yourself.

Who was your big game changer?

The inspiration and motivation to become a DJ came from me for the most part. I saw DJs on TV, the internet just came on. A DJ who was my great example from the beginning is DJ AM, who has since passed away. He was who I ultimately wanted to be. In terms of music style, and how he played.

Still, the biggest game changer in my career, the one who really got me started, has been DJ Cutnice. He took me into the scene and inspired me. I met him for the first time at the Street Science Festival in Rotterdam. He was one of the DJs there. I then stepped on him and said: I think it’s cool how you play, and I’m also a DJ, I also play on vinyl (that was quite something new in the scene as a woman at the time). Then the connection was made. Then he saw me play at another festival, and he came to me to say that he did feel that click. From that moment on I could always turn to him for advice, connections and a lot of music talk.

What has changed in you over the years as a DJ?

When I think about how I feel about it now, I see that I have remained more and more myself in the last few years. I’ve come closer to myself. That’s been different. I’ve been more impressionable in the past. By people in the scene, by how other DJs did things.

People see the picture of a DJ with a certain allure and a certain lifestyle. I went after that too. But actually, because of that, I called a lot of struggles at me. I also wanted to chase that fame a little bit, and to get there I was going to do things that didn’t really suit me at all. As a result, the work itself suddenly became much more difficult. If you stay close to yourself, you also make more things that you are proud of. It pays a lot more to do what you love. Whether that’s for ten people audience or for ten thousand likes.

Inspired? Join Beyond the beat on Saturday 11 September!

Where can we follow you?

Instagram: Dj_mixturess

Atilla knows where to go for the cooolest walls in Rotterdam.

Atilla Bron is already a great freerunner talent at the age of fourteen. Who are the big game changers for Atilla that made him such an avid freerunner? And is he never afraid?

Who was your big game changer? 

For me, these were my trainers from the Freestyle School Rotterdam. Onur and Alex. They have trained and pushed me over the past few years, offer me mental support and know what I can do. They help me determine if what I want to do is not too dangerous. I can spar with them. That’s nice, because it can be quite exciting mentally.
When I train with friends in the city, they also help me to make choices. They also know what I can do. When I’m in doubt, they say, “ah yeah, you can do this.” But the other way around, they also say, “nah, don’t do that.”

Freerunning has always been inside me, I think. I used to climb into everything, at every playground I hung in the climbing frame. At some point, I started watching YouTube videos of freerunners. Now I’ve been serious for two years. I train a lot in the gym in Rotterdam, but I prefer to go freerunning outside in the city. With friends, and other people I make new friends with. Then we’re going to walk around a little bit and we’re all looking for walls and stuff, where you can jump well. Sometimes we freerun on tall buildings, but we don’t do that often, because it’s quite dangerous. You do play with your life.

Are you never afraid?

Yes sure. It’s also very mental. But what I do then is prepare me well. If I get to a place that I find exciting, I start with small jumps, for example. I start with one of two meters, for example, and if I succeed, I go to three meters. If I’m really confident, I’ll do tricks with it. Such as somersaults, frontflips and backflips. But with these kinds of tricks I always start in the gym, with a soft surface. Before I went outside with my first somersault, I had practiced it in the gym for at least two and a half months.
Fortunately, I’ve never broken anything. The other day I ended up badly. I landed with my leg just not well on an edge. Then I had a hole in my shin and had to put in five stitches.

When do you feel like a game changer yourself?

Together with a friend I teach small children. You can see that they look up to me. When we are freerunning outside, there are often children with us. Then they ask where we learned that, and say, I want that too! Then I tell them that you can train for it at the Freestyle School.

Where can we follow you?

Instagram: atilla._.pkr

Alexander: ”beatboxers can do so much more than just battle each other.”

Alexander Kahlman is a beatboxer and founder of the Boom Snap Clap foundation, where he wants to give beatboxers a bigger platform. We talked to him about his game changers in the beatbox scene, and why beatbox and opera go so well together.

Who was the game changer who drew you into the beatbox scene?

At one point I ended up at a beatbox workshop through school. It was very, very beginner’s work. Poffertjes crackers, you know. I was still very shy at the time, so I didn’t immediately start doing something with it. But my attention was drawn and I watched more and more movies about beatboxes. I got to know big names like Rahzel and Eazy-E and I also started making tutorials myself.

To the point that I got stuck with that. In the Netherlands it was not easy to find something such as an event or a workshop. I had heard of the Dutch Beatboxing Championships. The organiser, Matthew ‘Hurrakane tha Soundztorm’, said to me: come along, the championship is open to anyone who wants to participate. And that’s how I gained my first stage experience. From there, I also met the entire community, with whom I later went on to do jam sessions.

Do you also feel that you are real game changers with the Boom Snap Clap foundation?

That’s already starting to bubble up a little bit. We recently had our first event with the Boom Snap Clap foundation. Dancers and beatboxers were linked to each other. Everyone was excited and wanted to make it bigger. That way I want to be able to give beatboxers a stage more often.

I think a lot of beatboxers who are still a bit busy in their room don’t realize that they can also go much bigger. So far, not much has happened in terms of events either. The Dutch Championships were always the biggest, but there is so much to do with beatbox. For example, in the theater. I was at the Opera Days last year. In our show we combined beatbox with opera music. It was a big theatrical production with a whole orchestra. In music, the beatbox determined the red line of the emotions that held up the story.

That was really an eye opener for me: as beatboxers, we can do much more than just fight each other. I hope that more and more beatboxers will do that, that they will look further. My dream with the Boom Snap Clap foundation is to one day create a space where all kinds of artists can come together with beatboxers, to organize workshops and especially to get to know each other.

Want to see Boom Snap Clap in action? On Friday the 10th of September they will organize the NK Beatbox. Be there!

Where can we follow you?

Instagram: Boomsnapclap_bmx

Akif en The Pigeons Crew kunnen lol trappen èn op topniveau dansen

Akif Dalkiran and The Pigeons Crew have been dancing together for seven years. We talked to Akif about their two father figures, and their close friendship makes them better dancers.

Who have been real game changers for your dance crew?

With our crew The Pigeons we have two mentors. Hassani and Argil. They are two dancers, cousins of each other. They come from Suriname, but when they moved to the Netherlands they built up a dance career with great success. About six, seven years ago, they were really big and well-known. In the dance scene, but they also came on TV. The name of their crew was X-gen.

When we came together as Pigeons, it actually started as a joke. We all took classes at the HipHopHuis, and were dancing there weekly. We formed a dance group, and then that joke actually got very serious. Now we’ve been touring the world for seven years. When we were just starting out, Hassani and Argil were there to take us by the hand. They had the experience with the scene, and with the success. They have helped us by saying, this is what you need to think about, and these are your pitfalls.

We see them as father figures. They don’t ask money for it or anything. It just feels like family. The effort they put into us from the beginning was a motivation. We thought, wow, they’re so big, but they still want to help us. We must seize this opportunity. The people within the crew are all equal, but Hassani and Argil don’t dance along. Their vision is therefore a vision from above. And it works.

What did they see in your crew when you were just starting out as rookies?

When we were less than a year old, we were still small, but what we did have was the strong bond within the team. That’s also an important reason why Hassani and Argil saw something in us. They felt, okay, no matter what they’re going through, they’ll figure it out. Because they are like family to each other. A lot of crews go together because they just like each other. We are a real group of friends, we talk to each other every day. Some of them I see more often than my parents. I think this is the most important thing a crew can sustain.

Do you feel that you are already real game changers yourself?

We hear that a lot. There are a lot of crews in the dance scene who don’t survive long. They get into an argument, or break up for some other reason. We have been around for seven years. And even with all the fun we kick, we still manage to be successful. Our vibe evokes memories in the old generation, and they also give it back to the young generation. We also teach the younger generation ourselves, and organize bootcamps. For others, we try to be a Hassani and Argil.

Where can we follow you?

Instagram: Pigeons Crew

Would you like to see a dance competition or participate in a cool dance workshop? On Thursday, Friday and Saturday you can attend the International Dance League. Check out our further program and join us!