Raphael Xavier

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Raphael Xavier is an award-winning artist originally from Wilmington, Delaware. A self taught Hip-Hop dancer and Breaking practitioner since 1983, Raphael has forged an exceptional approach to improvisation. Brenda Dixon Gottschild deemed Xavier, ‘A fine movement technician’. As an Innovative Movement Conceptualist he creates new ways to expand the vocabulary of the dance form. He draws not only upon the culture but also his equally important visual background as a Hip Hop magazine photographer and musical artist. His extensive research in the Breaking form has lead to the creation of Ground-Core, a Somatic dance technique that gives the practitioner a better understanding of the body within all dance forms. As an active alumnus of the world renown Hip Hop Dance Company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, his solo and ensemble choreographic dance works have been performed world wide. Raphael is also a 2013 recipient of the prestigious Pew Fellowship and a 2014 MacDowell Fellow. He currently lives in Philadelphia.

Review: “Raphael Xavier, Breaking Out of Boxes, Barely” | New York Times, March 4, 2022

Raphael Xavier — “The moves look improvised. But NYC’s underground dance culture follows the rules.” | NorthJersey.com, Dec. 2022

Humanities Council 2024 Flash Grant Awarded to Raphael Xavier for “Ground Core: Physical Aesthetics Practice” | Princeton University Humanities Council, May 31, 2024