Meet Ryan “Future” Webb | Educator, Movement Artist, Cultural Ambassador, Folklorist/Preservationist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan “Future” Webb and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Our business, “Funk in Focus” is an education program designed and dedicated to the balance of traditions & self identity through the education, preservation, & active participation of funk based traditional African American dance disciplines such as Popping, Struttin’, & Locking. For us, recognizing each communities and individuals contribution that came before us as an important piece to the story is how we keep truth and respect at the forefront. Although we do honor everyone’s story, our direct legacy and family is what has truly inspired and motivated us to become the highest versions of ourselves today. Through the Funk in Focus Legacy of dancers and the skillsets acquired at Urban Artistry, Funk in Focus has only grown to continue this mission and become a beacon of light & role model for poppers and dancers all across the globe.

The online education & resource center we provide is a subscription based website that will allow members from multiple communities all across the globe to access to Tutorials, Group Workshops, Music Playlists, Educational Podcasts, Trainings, & a footage Library of practitioners from various communities and movement styles. Our goal is to create the best educational experience that one can possibly gain through online resources. We also believe in empowering our students through understanding how to respectfully learn cultural art forms, yet at the same time celebrating the tradition of being themselves in that process. Our focus is on cultural exchange and creating spaces that bridge the gaps of cultural disconnect that many folks overseas and ones not from communities of practice face in the process of learning these dances. The online programs are dedicated to bringing education from the generations that paved the way in the past, our own personal approaches to these dances, and also from styles of dance that are influencing and molding what Popping is today.

Students and site members become apart of the “Funk in Focus Online” Community and not only have access to our educational resources, but will also be actively engaged throughout the month with video challenges, battles, trainings, research projects, practice feedback, field trips, & more. We bring in guest instructors for workshops, tutorials, and dialogues to allow students to connect directly with sources from the communities of practice.

I truly believe Funk in Focus has helped multiple dance communities all around the world and been a leader when it comes to responsible tradition bearing, dance entrepreneurship, Preservation/Documentation of the art forms, community building, cultural exchange, & being 3-Dimensional dancers (Education, Competition, Research, Organizing Events, Entrepreneurship, & more)

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As an artist, I actively try to be traditional yet innovative at the same time. My artist name being “Future” has been a driving force since it was given to me as a youngster. To honor and respect the past and traditions that have come before yet still remain honest to myself, my time and the culture I grew up in is the goal. Not always the easiest but for me, as artists this is the balancing act that we all need to strive for. Honestly, I am most excited for what is yet to come for the next generations of Popping, Locking, Jookin, and other street dancers. I actively try to create spaces, events, classes, and more that will allow a better future with more opportunities for the next generation of dancers. My time with my students and crew mates is everything, as friends and folks on a mission to create something better and be what we call the “warrior of light” mentality. The path isn’t always easy but with that support from each other and working to make our dance spaces something that builds community, opportunity, honors culture, and leads by example for others to follow helps us stay motivated to keep pushing forward no matter what. Before I found this wonderful community of dancers and artists that I aligned myself with (Urban Artistry/Assassins Crew), I never believed I could do dance as a career. Most people in the States I was around thought poorly of Street Dance, they had prejudices towards it, and saw no longevity in it really. I had to go against the grain in multiple ways and I truthfully didn’t even think it was possible until around 2011 when I did my first theatre show in London. That’s the type of love I have for these dances, one that even when I didn’t know where I was going with it, I still continued to push with all my heart and drive. Finding support and family within the arts meant everything to me and has helped me to survive the times. I ultimately want folks to know that you can turn your passion into a career no matter what it is, there is always a way, and anything is possible. I didn’t have to sell out, change my mission, or tweak the way I did things in order to make it work. I just needed patience, support, family, and having good examples around me to follow.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ok! Here is my list of places we would HAVE to go!

Dance:

Dance Session at the “Urban Artistry” Dance Academy (best dance sessions with folks that are always gettin it!)
Tuesday Popping/Locking & Friday Memphis Jookin Dance Class at Urban Artistry with myself and Johnte Cunningham

Food:

All Set Restaurant and Bar for Crab Cakes and more seafood! (where I used to work as a server)
Ben’s Chili Bowl in DC (only historic DC food really lol!)

Drinks:

Churchkey to grab a Beer (Best beer variety and selections in the DMV)
Aslin Brewery to grab a four pack (Best Brewery in the DMV)

Music/Clubs:

DJ Trevskis Funk Party “Modern Class” (Best Boogie Funk party in DMV). *DMV=DC, Southern Maryland, Northern Virginia
Eighteenth Street Lounge or U Street Music Hall – Hoping for them to re open after the pandemic shut them down 🙁
Palisades Lounge for a late night hang out near my apartment in Silver Spring (good music and chill vibes)

Tourist Stuff:

OH! of course we’d have to go to the National Mall if they hadn’t been yet. Best museums being The National Museum of History & Culture, Martin Luther King Memorial, The Spy Museum, The Hirshorn Art Museum, & Lincoln Memorial

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I love this question and for me it is so important to tell our stories of who and what helped build us as artists and people. Of course my Mom has to get the first shout out on this one! She had me dancing on stage at church since I was 4 years old and even when I wanted to quit, she tricked me back into dance by showing me Michael Jackson music videos as a teenager! So smart haha!

As far as my artistry, I have a large list of mentors, teachers, & inspirations throughout the years. I will mention as many folks as possible and please go look them up, these are all world class artists, educators, and tradition bearers!

I have to give my largest shout out of course to folks who mentor or have mentored me such as Junious Brickhouse and Rashaad Pearson. The amount of movement, culture, ideology, teaching methods, and life lessons gained working with them together and separately has truthfully changed me forever and I will always be grateful for that fact. On that note, being apart of Urban Artistry and Assassins Crew and the influence from that team has also been a huge influence on what I do as an artist.

When it comes to teachers I have to mention my main ones that are apart of the Funk in Focus legacy.
-Damon Frost
-Steen Koerner
-Dr. Rico
-Thomas Herodt
-Lock Smith
-Poptart
-Anthony Edwards
-Jazzy J
-Disco Dave

Please check these folks out, some of the dopest artists on the planet!

Website: www.funkinfocus.co

Instagram: @futureasns

Facebook: Ryan Webb Full

Youtube: Funk in Focus

Other: IG: @funkinfocus & @thebookofstyles_ Tik Tok: Funk in Focus Website for Membership Registration: www.funkinfocus.co/plans-pricing

Image Credits
Agus Franzoni Hikari Miller Tituan Photography