BREAKIN' CONVENTION SADLER'S WELLS 29.04.16-02.05.16

FLAWLESS Photo:  Paul Hampartsoumian

So 13 is meant to be unlucky in our culture, but not so in Italia, where the phrase fare tredici means 'hit the jackpot'. I personally felt very wealthy after seeing what Breakin' Convention managed to curate in their 13th year, as I was immersed once again in a currency that lifts me up and leaves me flying until Christmas. 

Breakin' Convention has grown to be THE biggest hip-hop event of the year in the dance, theatre and performance world. Workshops, cyphers, graffiti art and battles all help piece the puzzle together over the course of the weekend. The pleasure in seeing London's finest dance house transformed into a hip-hop habitat lights me up and I delight in bringing new people along with me each night to see their reactions. 

At risk of sounding like a fan-girl, I used my guests who were new to the experience as litmus test opinions against my own thoughts. 

After my catch up with Flawless who headlined Saturday night (see below) and our 'sweet shop' exchange, I have been inspired to present in this post, a sweet shop of conclusions. 

Before that, I present the performance device of 2016 from my good friend Wikipedia:

Vignette: In a novel, theatrical script, screenplay, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or character and gives a trenchant impression about that character, an idea, setting, and/or object.

Vignettes appeared everywhere this year and functioned as an important way of helping to tell the story where dancers will usually get 10-15 minutes to convey a message. It seems to me that hip-hop dance is being pulled up by bold themes and narratives more than ever, and the intention to move away from just pulling off slick routines was made very clear. 

Let's begin the taste experience- a selection box of my favourites:

Boy Blue Entertainment (UK)
The one that is guaranteed to be good

BOY BLUE ENT Photo: Belinda Lawley

Candy equivalent- The Fried Egg

The fried egg (to me anyway) is a treat I always look forward to. 

If I've had a bad day, I know a few of these babies will deliver the sweet version of a close friend and flavour that you know will be of the standard your tastebuds desire. Consistently good, delightfully chewy, you're aware you could devour a whole bag. Much like the picture above, Boy Blue opened Sunday night with perfect formation, strength and togetherness. The spotlights snapped onto individual dancers who expressed themselves through a mixture of styles, with krumping being a strong feature. Highlights in this piece were the cascading patterns created when the dancers hit the floor, and the feeling they managed to convey through what I would describe as surges of energy. Kenrick 'H20' Sandy can sit firmly on the throne as a King of choreo. I remain a loyal worshipper along with the rest.

Daughters of the Dragon (UK)
The one that is visually pleasing

DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON Photo: Belinda Lawley

Candy equivalent: The rainbow lolly

Sharifa Tonkmoor and Maren Ellerman brought us their piece 'Kaleidoscope' which did exactly what it set out to do. The lighting and choreography were colourful, the relationship between the symmetrical movers seemed sister-like, sweet and they hit every beat intended. It was clean, and these girls could get this piece advert ready (does Gap need a new campaign?) 



Soweto Skeleton Movers (South Africa)
Keeping it real-Sweets from the Streets

Photo:  Paul Hampartsoumian

Candy equivalent: Pineapple Cubes

Hip-hop comes from the streets after all, so what better way to celebrate the convention than with a style that originated on the streets of Soweto. This charming and cheeky crew unleashed their new vocabulary on the audience, which provided humour, relief and sometimes a sense of traditional street clowning. 'Pantsula' is a style that developed from the movement of commuters jumping on and off trains in 1950's Soweto, which then merged with tap to create a new genre. Jonzi-D explained how he had seen the group performing in South Africa and had to bring them over. This performance brought some old school charm, and there was a real sense of gratitude from the audience in that we had experienced a sharing of their craft. This was less of a choreography showcase and more of a culture experience.


Bandidas (France)
 Big on Texture- develop the flavour

BANDIDAS Photo:  Paul Hampartsoumian

Candy equivalent- Jelly Buttons/Spogs

Much like spogs, the start of the experience looked exciting, full of expectation and wonder, but on biting down I didn't get what I expected. I'm big on supporting female dancers and performers, and I admire the boldness that this collective demonstrated in choosing to dance to dubstep music. I personally enjoy dubstep in certain serving sizes, and they chose a very large production serving to sync with. I did feel however that there were challenges with this piece, in that the music was too big for the dance. On the huge stage, I felt that it was tricky to fill, and may have come across better in a smaller setting, but the music itself was far too bolshy to deserve the visuals that these ladies were creating.  

Enfant Prodiges (France)
The new favourite

Enfant Prodiges

Candy equivalent: Reeses miniature peanut butter cups

There wasn't much I didn't love about this dance crew. They gave everything you could possibly want from a performance at Breakin' Convention and it's easy to see why. The group is made up of the finest hip-hop dancers in France who have all battled their way to victory in various competitions individually whilst working with major brands. They've mastered the craft of performing and audience pleasing, and showcased every style from top-rock, house, newstyle to krumping and breaking. They had the formations (though not as slick as Unity UK or Boy Blue) and the humour of Soweto for a winning combination. The stamp of approval for music choice goes to this crew too who danced to the beats of DJ Mofak.

SWNSNG by Ivan Blackstock
Dark, relevant, more to unravel

SWNSNG Photo: Belinda Lawley

Candy equivalent: Liqourice wheel

Ivan Blackstock brought us an extract Traplord of the Flyz from his new work and brand SWNSNG. Blackstock is hugely respected and looks set to be a thought leader in this area of hip-hop culture. We were presented with rhymes, aggressive lighting, and scenes which displayed uncomfortable shorts and abstract images. Described as reflecting on black masculinity in a crisis, violence and negative stereotyping of black men in contemporary British society, there is a huge story waiting to be told here, and I didn't quite get enough to feel like I was in the hands of this piece just yet, but there is no doubt that as it unravels, there will be a voice provided to a message that needs to be heard. Look out for this one.


  The Ruggeds (Netherlands)
The exciting one

THE RUGGEDS Photo: Belinda Lawley

Candy equivalent- Flying saucer

Having already swooned about this collective last year, they brought more of their excellence as headliners of the final night of Breakin' Convention. My main joy came from watching my guests face as all her perceptions of what a b-boy crew might be were expanded. It was great to see them bring back a little of the Swiss ball routine, but props go to them this year for my favourite entrance/opening (fast, instant, hyper and stylish)

Special Mentions:

House Of Absolute Exclusive Interview from Breakin' Convention

See my Q & A with Julia Cheng here 

HOUSE OF ABSOLUTE Photo:  Paul Hampartsoumian

I always admire the work of Kloe Dean and Myself UK. Check out the interview with some of the dancers filmed at the Lilian Baylis studio before the performance at Breakin' Convention.

MYSELF UK Photo:  Paul Hampartsoumian

Spoken Movement

Kwame Asofo-Adjei from SPOKEN MOVEMENT

We also caught up with Kwame Asafo-Adjei choreographer of Spoken Movement. He works on challenging perceptions through dance.

Until next time...