Culture Shock Canada was founded by Mark Macy in 1997 and directed by Carole Moy-Woodstock.
The Culture Shock family has grown from its home base in San Diego to cities across the United States and Canada, including Ottawa; Toronto; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; and Las Vegas.
Each company is individually operated and has up to five dance troupes serving a diverse range of ages, skills, and goals.
All troupes are committed to creating fresh, innovative choreography to keep the organization at the forefront of the hip-hop dance community.
Each troupe brings together a unique amalgamation of street dance forms to create their own brand of style. Our world-renowned Culture Shock troupes have brought their groundbreaking hip-hop moves to stages all over the world.
They’ve made a splash at SeaWorld, went global at World of Dance, stomped across MTV Studios, just did it at Nike, set it off on NBA and WNBA courts, brought their game to ESPN, and dropped some bling at Las Vegas’ MGM Hotel & Casino.
The troupes bring great value and depth to the artistic and cultural scene in their respective cities.
Culture Shock inspires and empowers diverse members of our communities to achieve artistic and personal excellence by providing innovative and progressive training, development, and performance opportunities in the art of hip-hop dance.
The organization provides intensive dance training for youths and adults alike. The elder Culture Shock dancers also mentor the younger troupe members and promote self-confidence and a positive body image.
In addition, Culture Shock offers scholarship programs for up-and-coming dancers.
Culture Shock began its youth outreach efforts by performing in schools to inspire and entertain future generations.
Now, outreach is one of the organization’s main tenets, with members teaching Youth Outreach programs and giving complimentary performances to community and nonprofit groups all over Ottawa and Toronto.
Many of our troupes offer an alternative to street life by providing a rewarding activity, building confidence, and creating a positive and accepting environment where people can flourish.
The Culture Shock family has grown from its base in San Diego to cities across the United States and Canada. Each company is individually operated to implement the Culture Shock mission of entertainment, education, and community enrichment with the unique needs of its community in mind. Each company has up to five dance troupes serving a diverse range of ages, skills, and goals.
As one of Culture Shock’s most celebrated characteristics, a sense of Family exists between all cities and programs across the Culture Shock network. Culture Shock and the atmosphere at any Culture Shock event is always described as a family by its members and supporters. The relationships and bonds between people emerge as if they’ve always existed, go well beyond friendship, and last for a lifetime. As a family, we prioritize the support, well-being, and development of each other, and we strive to create that family atmosphere wherever we go.
The core component of our mission is Community Enrichment, and the value we place on healthy and vibrant communities is extremely high. A community is any group with shared interests or commonality that supports each other, collaborates, and shares resources. Community is the extension of family, and Culture Shock strives to strengthen and create positive change in all of the various forms of community that we work with through our programs.
“Self-worth, dignity, and respect for all people” is the final part of the Culture Shock motto, and we strive to treat everyone we come in contact with complete acceptance and without judgement. The cultural diversity of its original members was the inspiration for Culture Shock’s name, and is still an obvious characteristic throughout the organisation. Culture Shock crosses all possible boundaries between people, and embraces everyone as valued and equal- it is truly ‘for all people’.
We believe that consistent, open, and clear communication of information, thoughts, feelings, and ideas is a foundation for any successful group. We work hard to build this into all of our operations and programs, and we encourage it between all levels of the organisation.
The learning, growth, and development of people is an underlying mission across all Culture Shock programs. Whether it be as artists, leaders, or simply as human beings, one of the main benefits of being part of Culture Shock is the opportunity to grow, and to empower & support the growth of others. Also, because we believe so strongly in the power of our mission, we strive to continuously improve and grow as an organisation to increase the impact of what we do, and to reach as many people as possible.
As an arts-based organisation, creativity is an essential part of Culture Shock’s core. Dance as a positive creative outlet and form of expression is our passion, and creativity and innovation in performance, teaching, and strategy is what we continuously work towards
Culture Shock members maintain the highest standard of professionalism in everything they do. From the rehearsals of the professional dance teams, to the day-to-day operations, to the events we host, Culture Shock is run and executed with the highest level of integrity, efficiency, and level of responsibility.
Starting off with a positive attitude is essential to the Culture Shock way. Anything worth working towards is bound to encounter challenges and difficulties, and we believe that perseverance and a positive attitude will lead to positive results and change. Everything that we do is also infused with a sense of fun and happiness, and as an organisation rooted and founded in Hip Hop culture, Hip Hop’s positive principles of Peace, Love, Unity, and Having Fun are fundamental to Culture Shock.
Trust is a fundamental pillar for Culture Shock Canada as it helps ensure proper navigation of each of our core values. Our organization strives in creating and providing safe spaces to foster confidence, dependability and reliability by acting with care, competency, consistency, integrity and compassion to build a stronger sense of self and community.
