NY1 Video and article

an accomplished breakdancer from East Harlem is now breaking into film with a new documentary about female breakdancers, or "b-girls." NY1's Arts reporter Stephanie Simon filed the following report.

Ana "Rokafella" Garcia is a breakdancer, filmmaker and activist from who earned her nickname for good reason.

"On a physical level, normally, people think that women are weak, and think that we're not going to be able to hang with the fellas. And that's where my name came from, 'rock the fellas,'" says Garcia.

She's been "rockin' the fellas" for a long time. Now "Rokafella" Garcia is working on a new documentary on female breakdancers

Garcia grew up in East Harlem, dancing to a number of different styles. In 1992, she met her current husband, Gabriel "Kwikstep" Dionisio. The heyday of breakdancing had already passed but he was still keeping alive.

"He was like, I think you'd be good for this type of dance, and I was ready," says Garcia. "I thought, if anyone would teach me, then I could probably be good. And he started to teach me not only the dance moves, but also the history, the roots of this style of dance."

"She was dancing in the street, she had fire. So one thing that 'hip hop university' acknowledges is skill," says Dionisio. "If you have skill, it doesn't matter your gender, as long as you can rock the floor, rock the mic, rock the wall."

Together, "Rokafella" Garcia and "Kwikstep" Dionisio founded the non-profit organization Full Circle Productions. Among their community outreach projects was a series of discussions involving female breakdancers, or "b-girls." That grew into a new documentary project that chronicles the lives of six dancers from across the country, called "All the Ladies Say."

Editor Melissa Ulto has been involved in many hip hop video projects and says this one is special because it's an insider's look.

"There aren't many projects about hip-hop where women are at the lead," says Ulto. "It's a great message because it's an alternative message to the booty-shaking, bling - the kind of culture that isn't getting anyone anywhere."

The filmmakers hope to have "All the Ladies Say" completed by the end of this year and hold the premiere in New York City, the birthplace of hip hop. Then they hope to take the film on the festival circuit.