Did you know that before it was called Soulcypher, it was called Soul Selected?
Soul Selected started as a streetdance formation & family that originated in 2008 in the city of Arnhem, The Netherlands. They all came to the city Arnhem to study dance & embrace a new journey full of risks and love. Soul Selected was one of the leading stand up streetdance crews in Holland during the period of 2010s next to crews as The Kulture Kids, Poparazzi Crew, Moyo Tribe & more. Within this crew were some amazing dancers & creatives that are now internationally credited as:
- @Deborah Verberkt
- @Djerraldo Goedhart
- @Ruben Chi
- @Ricardo Hendriks
- @Lionel Lets
- @Sascha Lekatompessy
- @Roshan Dhesi
- @Kai Wing Ip
- @Marvin Corputty
During 2011, Soul Selected created an event that would highlight the elements of Hiphop with the focus on bringing back the "cypher" as core element of the event, thus Soulcypher event was created in Arnhem. The cypher is the place where you represent who you are and what you stand for, it is a place of exchanging, a spiritual place where magic happens and where boundaries are transcended, it’s a beautiful meeting of cultures & souls. Hence the name “SoulCypher".
After 2012, Ruben Chi continued organizing & leading the event Soulcypher, making it a bigger happening each year until it became a three day festival in the heart of Arnhem city. Together with Roshan "Revo" & Djerraldo Goedhart (Team Orokana World) they embarked into a new horizon with Soulcypher becoming one of the leading Hiphop Dance Festivals in The Netherlands and surroundings.
Board members
- Hanneke van de Weele (Studio 26) - Voorzitter
- Tom van der Krabben - Penningmeester
- Niek Traa (The Ruggeds) - Algemeen bestuurslid
- Milly Trouerbach - Algemeen bestuurslid
Main editions
- Soulcypher 2021 - Musis Arnhem
- Soulcypher 2019 - Stadstheater, Theater A/D Rijn & Studio 26, Arnhem
- Soulcypher 2018 - Waalhalla, Nijmegen
- Soulcypher 2017 - Studio 26, Arnhem
- Soulcypher 2016 - The Level, Arnhem
- Soulcypher 2015 - Posttheater, Arnhem
- Soulcypher 2013 - Luxor Live, Arnhem
- Soulcypher 2012 - Luxor Live, Arnhem
- Soulcypher 2011 - ROC Rijnijssel, Arnhem
Crew
Mike Ramharak is 25 years old and born and raised in Arnhem. He works as an Automotive Engineer for a Forklift truck company. There he works on the design and development of the new generation of Forklift trucks. His interests are cars, gaming and being social. The first time he came in contact with Soulcypher, it was due to having some friends in the organization.
Before he knew it he was sitting next to the judges with a notepad notating the battles. Since then he is involved with Soulcypher, where his role contains organizing and innovating (In technical sense). To Mike Soulcypher is a platform of creativity and connection. This platform allows people to express themselves and build a network of like-minded people. By the effort of the Soulcypher crew and the fact that the Urban scene is getting bigger we have been able to organize multiple nice events and collaborations. Mike believes we are capable to transform the cultural world into a more urban based world and will be able to generate a platform for even more people.
Ruben “Chi” is a movement artist and creative who has become a neo-pioneer in the dance scene of The Netherlands and community in his city, Arnhem. Throughout the years, his dedication, determination, and drive in seeking the impossible have enabled him to travel the world and transcend the boundaries of dance as he performs, learns and teaches. He has continuously gained recognition in his craft by becoming the “Summerdance Forever” winner, as well as being the “Juste Debout” Holland winner 5 times-in-a-row. Since then, he has built a sustainable hip-hop dance community in his city with stichting Soulcypher, where it all started, whilst becoming the co-founder of Ghetto Funk Collective.
He started his professional dance career with Blaze The Show, a streetdance show which he toured the world with for several years. After kickstarting his career, he danced and choregraphed for the Dutch Ladies of Soul and has been choreographing / dancing with several world famous artists like Armin van Buuren, Sheila E, Billy Ocean, Lost Frequencies, Candy Dulfer, Pep & Rash, Blackstreet, SR Pablo, ALLES Lifestyle and many more ever since.
Despite his achievements, he strives to reach new heights within his music and being a groundbreaking interdisciplinary artist. Creating transcending work in (hiphop) theatre aswell as in the commercial world. Production house "De Nieuwe Oost" & Partners (Stadstheater Arnhem & Studio26) are an important support to Ruben Chi's ambition to create a sustainable Hiphop establishment in the city of Arnhem. His work seeks to open new boundaries between movement and music, between the East and the West, tradition and innovation, in hopes of inspiring the next generation to inspire the world with love, rawness, compassion, and understanding.
Farah van Stokkum is a dancer and organizer. She graduated from the Urban Dance Education at Rijnijssel in Arnhem, studied Hip Hop for a year in Sweden and is currently still studying to become a producer.
During her education at Rijnijssel she was told to enter her first preselection ever, which happened to be SoulCypher. This was her first encounter with them and she came back every year since then. Soulcypher stands for community, they are giving and have given others including herself a platform to share ideas and they invest in them. Ever since they gave her this opportunity in 2018 she has been a proud member of the production team.
Farah is still an active dancer, performing and teaching but also has interest in videography and combining that with her artistic craft.
N’kia Landburg is an active artist in front of the camera and behind the scenes. She has a passion for creating concepts and directing. She graduated from the Urban Dance Education at Rijn IJssel in Arnhem & also graduated from the beauty school Art Of Colors in Amsterdam.
During her education in 2016 she became an active part of Soulcypher and loved every minute of it! She just wanted to learn about dance by being an active part of the scene. She finds battles and events magical and nothing beats being at the centre of that feeling. In 2019 she started focusing more on the media aspects of SoulCypher and organizing SoulCreation/SoulSpace with Chayennah. N’kia loves directing and planning out what things are going to look like, she can spend hours working on details that can make her vision come alive.
Besides SoulCypher she is still an active dancer, works as a freelance Make-Up Artist and works as an editor and producer for NPO FunX.
Lionel Tjin-sie also known as LETS started dancing when he was 21 years old with the main style of house. He has a passion for fashion and is trying to combine both! Although he doesn’t dance full time anymore, he still loves to be creative and work with other creatives as well.
He has been in the soulcypher family since day one has been hosting and organizing all events since the start. He’s your voice at all events. (MC LETS)
He believes creatives are the new athletes.
Chayennah Morgenland-Batlajar, a.k.a. Poca is an interdisciplinary artist, mostly focused on movement & writing but calls on every form of expression to translate her inner world & view of the outside. She stands for strength in authenticity, vulnerability & connection. Growing up in the Netherlands, coming from an Asian family full of musicians and a musical & show focused background she is inspired by multiple worlds and connects them within her view and artwork. She is a colorful creature expressing herself in every way she feels like.
After a pop & musical theatre focused pre-vocational dance education she graduated from the Urban Dance Education at Rijn IJssel in Arnhem, where she was introduced to SoulCypher. She was drawn to this platform due to the huge display of free expression & connection between individuals and cultures. In 2015 she volunteered to help out and has never left since. Now as a part of the core team she helps out with production, lyrical content, business management and fundraising.
Other than that she is lyricist and part of the core creative team for the Hip Hop lifestyle brand ‘Mono No Aware’, a business management and fundraising apprentice at production house ‘De Nieuwe Oost’ and part of the artist duo behind Rubatosis Studios.
Revo is an entrepreneur as well, he is co-founder of the brand OrokanaWorld. As a dancer his specialty is popping and also one of the original members of the crew Soul Selected, the crew that originated SoulCypher.
Revo works at the streetdance education in Arnhem, there he is a coach and teaches in entrepreneurship and the dance style popping. Together with the rest of the organisation he is busy building a better infrastructure for the upcoming generation of dancers and a stronger hip hop community in Arnhem and the Netherlands.
Linda Kokke is a cultural professional that supports young/emerging artists and creatives with their financing and business development. Over the years she specialized in fundraising and the Dutch subsidy system. She was trained to be a visual artist at ArtEZ Institute for the Arts (department of Fine Arts, 2014) and worked as a freelance photographer for a couple of years. Once she joined an artist collective she came into contact with different financing issues and government funding, and decided to specialize in the financial and organizational side of the arts. She got her master’s degree in Arts Policy & Business at the Radboud University. In this period she did research for Jeugdfonds Cultuur, the Central Bureau of Statistics and Royal Talens, and gained some work experience at the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (among others).
In 2017 she started working at talent development organisation De Nieuwe Oost and Theater aan de Rijn. She still works here, guiding a wide array of artists - from modern dancers to rappers - in their quest to find funding and/or support for their plans and to put those to words. In 2019 she received a grant from Het Huis Utrecht for her development as a talented business manager in the performing arts sector: the Anne Faber Stipendium. Besides her work for De Nieuwe Oost and Theater a/d Rijn she is the financial coördinator of CELA (Connecting Emerging Literary Artists): an extensive collaboration between 10 European literary organisations, that unites a new generation of literary creators and translators and gives them international opportunities. Finally she is the business director of Dance collective Arnhemse Meisjes, who make accessible contemporary dance performances for the open air and organise workshops and other events for the (local) dance community.
Linda can be somewhat quiet on the outside, but is turbulent and fiery on the inside: with that duality and her background as an artist, she both understands the chaotic artist's soul as well as the strict subsidy advisor through and through. Following from her own musical background in jazz music, she developed a love for hip hop that's growing every day - and will support the (local) culture and community wherever she can.
Djerraldo Goedhardt is a 29 years old dancer and content creator from Amsterdam, also known as The Dancing Camera Man and co-founder of SoulCypher. His love for photography was already there before he even knew what photography was. He started off with his mobile phone that contained a 1 megapixel camera that showed more pixels than a proper image. Now, almost 15 years later he makes his money with a hobby that got out of control.
In 2011 he started his company called OrokanaWorld, now it’s almost a fulltime job. He organises events, creates the content for dance battles, workshops, shows, including SoulCypher and more.
Next to OrokanaWorld he is also fashion, portrait and event photographer where he has worked with Adidas, TopNotch, Warner Music, Ajax and more. Besides this he is also still active as a dancer and practices different styles on a daily basis.
For SoulCypher he functions as the graphic designer of all the social media content, videographer and photographer for all events.
Nino brings a fresh and young look to content creation; his goal is to use his passion for hiphop as a way of telling his own story and with that creating something far more valuable than anything he can think of. He is more than just a content creator as he is also a professional dancer, which makes him unique. He uses this skill to develop a deeper understanding of movement in creating new stories.
Nino danced at Mind Body&Soul school of art and from there he joined the Urban dance Education program at Rijn IJssel. There he became acquainted with the soulcypher organisation and joined them soon after with his content creating skills. The reason why he joined soulcypher was because he wants to help spread the message of hiphop to a wider audience.
Mission & Vision
SoulCypher keeps the authentic form of Hip Hop alive and visible. We form a learning community for talent development, professionalization of the hip hop scene and enforce strength and connection within the community. Like Hip Hop has always done, we break through patterns on an international level. SoulCypher is versatile, inclusive and loyal to the traditional core of Hip Hop by being focused on the future, connected with the past and being active in the present.
Representing Hip Hop is staying true to yourself and not shaping yourself to the customs of society, using art forms within Hip Hop and practicing the essence of community and unity. It’s a pure form that expresses itself in radical authenticity.
SoulCypher is the Annual, three days lasting Hip Hop Event in the Netherlands where we connect multiple and international generations to the Hip Hop scene, by making use of battles, showcases, performances, panels and more.
Now is the time to celebrate Hip Hop.
Talent Development
We provide a platform that connects talent from different generations and area’s on a regional and international level as we invite judges and provide judges from all around the world. We build a strong hip hop community that lasts and passes on information and inspiration throughout generations.
This exchange is active on an external & internal level. Externally during on- and offline events and workshops where public can interact with each other but also offer chances & guidance to new talent from the scene. And internally active within the organisation of SoulCypher where we create opportunities & space for professionalisation and education in a way that forms a continuing and innovating collaboration
Do we inspire to work on your own talent development? Write us a motivational letter with your ambitions and what you think SoulCypher can do for you at soulcypher@outlook.com