Versa-Style Brings “Box of Hope” to a 99-Seat Room in Sierra Madre

Street dance was built for cyphers, parks and parking lots — spaces where the audience is close enough to be part of the exchange. A 99-seat theater is an odd fit and, on the evidence, a very good one.

Versa-Style Street Dance Company performs “Box of Hope” (2nd Edition) at Sierra Madre Playhouse on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. The evening-length multidisciplinary work is choreographed by the company’s founders and co-artistic directors, Jackie Lopez, known as Miss Funk, and Leigh Foaad, known as Breeze-lee. It is an anniversary piece, tracing the company’s own history through the figures, cultural movements and community touchstones that shaped it, and it spotlights West Coast hip-hop and street dance styles that originated in the Los Angeles area.

Lopez and Foaad, both Los Angeles natives, founded Versa-Style in 2005 to promote, empower and celebrate hip-hop and street dance culture. The company is composed of street dance artists who also work as educators, and it pairs touring with engagement programs in schools and neighborhoods. Alongside performance it runs an annual multi-day street dance festival built on workshops and battles, and a summer intensive. LA Weekly named it Los Angeles’ best dance troupe for hip-hop empowerment.

The venue has its own history worth knowing. Sierra Madre Playhouse began as a silent movie house and now programs theater, music, dance, film and author events under a season it calls Small Stage, Big World. The two Versa-Style performances are part of its Dance @ the Playhouse series, one of eight Los Angeles dance companies on the 2026 calendar.

“Box of Hope” (2nd Edition) will run on Friday, August 7 and Saturday, August 8 at 8 p.m. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. in Sierra Madre. For more information and tickets, call (626) 355-4318 or visit sierramadreplayhouse.org.