This article is part of a column called Philly Profiles, which features in-depth profiles of local moving-image artists and cultural workers, including their body of work, inspirations, and upcoming projects. The column is written by cinéSPEAK Philly Cultural Critics Fellows.
Raphael Xavier’s boundless approach to art has allowed him to thrive in a range of creative contexts including ciphers, stages, recording studios, film sets, and universities. Xavier is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, Philadelphia-based and Wilmington, Delaware-born. As a dancer, Xavier was a Guggenheim Fellow in 2016 and former member of the world-renowned hip-hop dance company Rennie Harris Puremovement, and is well-known for his breaking background and influence in the Philly scene. Xavier teaches hip hop at Princeton University and is currently producing a dance theater work called Skiff which premiered this month in Cleveland, Ohio. Aside from his roles as a dancer, live theater artist, and college professor, you may also see Xavier referred to as a rapper, producer, photographer, and filmmaker.
Xavier’s multifaceted artistry harmonizes in his directorial approach. His most recent film, Swerve Eli, is a Philly vignette on belonging, mentorship, and paving the way for youth, set in the city’s BMX wheelie scene. Inspired by true events, the short film follows Van Xander (Xavier), an artist out of work; his friend Remo (Leon Mack), a local school teacher; and Eli (Jayden Alexander), a teen on the brink of trouble who is just trying to fit in. When Remo lands Van a substitute teaching gig, he meets Eli, a student who is hard to reach at first, but eventually the two bond over biking.
The film has won several awards in 2024, including Best Shot in Philly and Best Young Actor at the Philly FirstGlance Film Festival, and Best Short Drama Narrative at both the Hip Hop Film Festival and the International Black & Diversity Film Festival. As the director, writer, producer, and an actor in the film, Xavier says he derives much of his artistic approach from the art of overcoming.
As Xavier reflects on his own upbringing and first explorations in the arts, he recalls struggling to fit in and how that experience encouraged innovation.“I was not the kind of person to fit in, you know, with certain cliques. So every time I did something, [fitting in] was the reason for doing it. It was, ‘wait until you see what I can do, and maybe you’ll let me in then.’”
The short film illustrates the camaraderie and creativity that Philly’s wheelie culture breeds, as well as the risks and fatal potential that can accompany a lack of moral counsel and demonstrative guidance for youth. Referencing the city’s reality of gun violence and poverty, the film emphasizes the kinship involved in the art of survival within a city that’s scarce in funding, yet pulsing with creativity.
When sharing how he got into the arts, Xavier remembers his grandmother’s encouragement of his interest in film and picking up a 110 camera as a kid, surprising his family with his eye for photography. He began engaging with art as a means of connection, acceptance, and coping with hardship. His first exposure to breakdancing was from watching the New York City Breakers on Soul Train, which intrigued him and became a gateway to elements of hip hop–exploring rapping and graffiti came next. It was a spark in his creative journey that would lead to his award-winning career and the multimodal approach he uses today.
Swerve Eli depicts the connection between breakdancing and biking. Both hobbies offer a lifestyle and culture that breed community and belonging, foster innovation, and on the flipside, can lead youth astray without the proper guidance and influence. Both breaking and biking require some level of rebellion, resistance, camaraderie, and self-discipline, and they involve an inherent risk. As responses to circumstances and stemming from adversity, these norm-defiant practices allow agency, and use the mundane to create new realities. When asked to speak to the overlap between the two crafts, Xavier’s answer didn’t distinguish them as separate, but rather two aspects of the same apparatus.
“If you were doing either one of them, you were doing both of them…a lot of the guys in California, because hip-hop was so big at the time, a lot of riders…when they would do their flat land runs in contests, they were playing rap music…they looked hip hop. They had Adidas and jeans. And, you know, it was one in the same,” Xavier shares.
In the BMX wheelie scene, you’ve got riders popping wheelies, standing on top of the handle-bars, riding bikes without front wheels and doing tricks that prop their bodies between bikes and cars–a daring and inventive style of acrobatics that requires a lot of determination. Xavier points out the same aspects emulated in breaking. He creates vivid depictions of the culture with the help of his camera crew, namely cinematographer Adam Hazelton and drone operator Will Brown.
Philadelphia’s charm is on display in Swerve Eli in dynamic shots captured from compelling angles that give a glimpse of the distinct landscape. The film features scenes shot in locations such as the Broad Street Line, City Hall, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, John F. Kennedy Boulevard, The Woodlands Cemetery, Universal Audenried High School, plus the local delis, empty lots, street art, and row homes characteristic of Philly neighborhoods.
Just as Xavier’s love of breaking and biking come through in his film, so does his commitment to youth mentorship. Swerve Eli offers mentorship as an alternative to the fatal outcomes of gun violence that devastatingly frequent the streets in Philadelphia: Eli had an OG in his corner helping him steer clear of impulsive decision-making when it mattered most.
In his own life, Xavier practices youth mentorship through his nonprofit W.O.R.X (Works of Raphael Xavier), which conducts arts education programming with African American youth using traditional hip hop and other art forms of the African diaspora. His versatility in creative expression and storytelling lends to his success as a maker, and allows him to discover unique ways to connect with and guide youth toward those same positive outlets.
“Ultimately, it’s really about meeting the kids halfway, not pointing fingers at them or scolding them; you know, a punishment. But if you can meet them halfway at anything, then you can begin to lead them in the place that might be better, right?” And that’s exactly what the main character Van did in Swerve Eli. He was able to take a conversation with his students and turn it into a history lesson, interesting them in a topic they could relate to from a perspective similar to their own. He had a few bikers in the class he was subbing for, and when their disinterest was apparent, he referenced historical figures not unlike them, such as Marshall “Major” Taylor and Nelson Vails, to show them what could be possible.
To conclude our interview, cinéSPEAK asked Xavier to whom he would dedicate Swerve Eli. He answers, “I would dedicate the movie to all of the guys who are not here to see the film. And anyone looking for inspiration to get out of whatever situations they’re in that might be kind of detrimental to their life or their situation…any artist who feels like they’re in a place where things are in the way…I would dedicate it to those people.”
*Featured Image: Image of Raphael Xavier working with actor Jayden Alexander on the Swerve Eli set. Photo credit: Monica Chang.
Caitlin Green is a Philly-based dance artist whose practice centers the body’s role in holistic wellness, catharsis, and socioemotional regulation. In addition to their work in choreography, performance, and education, they are a writer for the local dance publication thINKingDANCE and first-time director for the experimental dance film Eros: Fragile as it is Free. Caitlin is a 2025 cinéSPEAK Philly Cultural Critics Fellow.
