Meet Alex Milewski of Block 1750 in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Milewski.

Alex, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Block 1750 began as a seed in the Colorado Hip Hop dance scene ten years ago. Three of the founding members of The Block (Myself-Alex, Isaac Lutz and Larkin Poynton) started hosting dinners every Friday night in our homes, to practice dance and spend time with friends. These gatherings grew to a group of 40 people, young and old, from around CO. We also started teaching dance at local studios and schools, where we connected with youth eager to learn about Hip Hop and dance. We organized our own events that brought the greater Colorado dance community together. As our network grew in numbers, we eventually realized that Boulder lacked a community space for all these dancers to come together. So, along with our friend and fourth founder Becca Gallery, we built one.

We found a central 3000 sq ft unit in the Crossroads East shopping in Boulder. It could easily be reached on foot, bike, or bus which was crucial as many of our kids came from low-income families.

The Block had no financial backer, so we turned to our community and ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund construction costs, raising over $18,000. We sold out Chautauqua Auditorium for a live music & dance show – Murmuration – which gave $12,000 more to work with, and took out a $10,000 business loan. With the volunteer help of many members of the Hip Hop community The Block’s doors opened in June of 2014, just two months after the lease was signed.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not. The buildout phase of The Block was the first major hurdle: because we had very limited funds, we did the vast majority of the labor ourselves. This consisted of demolition of the old space, construction of new walls and doors, and building out our dance floor. This phase required massive amounts of time from the four founders as well as a ton of help from members of our crew, their families, and the Colorado dance community at large. Most of us were working full-time jobs during the buildout phase, and we would often work all day, and then head to The Block to do floor construction until 2 or 3 in the morning.

Once we opened our doors, the struggles continued. We were very hard-pressed to make our rent and payroll during the first two years of being open, and it was not uncommon for the founders to pitch in personal money at the end of each month in order to make rent. We even had months where a couple of the founders were living out of the studio so that they could use their personal rent money for paying Block rent.

As a purely volunteer-run organization, we continue to struggle with balancing the studio and our own lives on a daily basis. The organizational structure of The Block has changed significantly over the years, with only two of the original founders still involved and many new hands on deck.

We prioritize holding free open practice space for dancers for at least 40 hours every week, so that movement artists of all styles have a home and community to consistently practice in. In addition, we constantly struggle with offering authentic dance education and not “selling out”, while also trying to cater to the mainstream interests of students. While it may be difficult to fill House and Breaking fundamentals classes, we feel that continuing to educate people on these styles is vital to the growth of Hip Hip dance culture. Both of these priorities put additional financial pressure on us as an organization, and we are constantly balancing our offerings and trying to do more than just “scrape by” every month.

Please tell us about Block 1750.
Block 1750 has one of the most diverse arts communities in the country. The thousands of people who visit The Block on an annual basis includes: Break Dancers, Ballerinas, Yogis, Parkour and Martial Arts practitioners, Trickers, House Dancers, Hip Hop heads, Contact Improv & Contemporary movers, Jazz, Modern, Ecstatic & Salsa dancers, TRX athletes, Poets, Musicians, and more. We offer classes in Urban and Contemporary dance and host two large annual events in Boulder: Block Party and Murmuration.

One thing that really sets The Block apart from normal movement/dance studios is our “chill area”: one-third of our space is dedicated to non-dance community building and exchange. It features a full kitchen, couches, tables, comfy chairs, and all sorts of fun things to do and read. Every Friday night, we host “community chill” where we cook dinner, play music & games, dance, and vibe out as a community. Everyone is welcome at these chill nights and often we will have three generations of students, parents and staff present.

We are also extremely proud of our events because they are unique and world-class:

Block Party is a week-long festival that culminates with a free community event on Labor Day weekend every year. Dancers come from all over the world (over a dozen countries in 2018) to battle, perform, teach, learn and have fun in the sun. The weekend features a 5v5 freestyle dance competition (battle) which consistently has over 200 competitors, as well as a 3v3 youth battle, workshops, performances and dance parties.

Block Party:

Murmuration is our annual theater “showcase” that takes place at Chautauqua Auditorium in May/June. Murmuration brings together performers in a night of artistic unity. From breakdancers with harpists to ballerinas with barbershop quartets, Murmuration creates unprecedented relationships between artists on stage. By challenging boundaries of genres and styles, Murmuration discovers uncommon but remarkable harmony. Through the pioneering artistic relationships, Murmuration oers new perspectives and celebrates the talent within our Colorado community. Murmuration is more than a show; it is an unforgettable experience, an evening that leaves its audience feeling connected and inspired in ways they never imagined.

Murmuration:

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
It may be cliche, but one of my favorite childhood memories is the first breaking performance I ever saw. I remember thinking how incredible it was that these guys could do flips, hop on their hands, and spin on their heads. It was almost mystical to me, and I never thought it was something I could ever be a part of.

Pricing:

• Drop-in classes: $13
• 2-week unlimited memberships: $50
• 10-class punch cards: $100
• 9-11 week kids breaking sessions: $110-$130

Contact Info:

• Address: 1750 30th St. #22, Boulder, CO. 80301
• Website: www.block1750.com
• Phone: (303) 654-9617‬
• Email: hello@block1750.com
• Instagram: @block1750
• Facebook: facebook.com/block1750

Image Credit:
Sean Obrien, George Lange, Donovan Green, Jackson Xia, Anna Gunderson

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