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...

RISING UP-A Q & A WITH JULIA CHENG FROM HOUSE OF ABSOLUTE

Photo by Ellen Pengelly

After seeing House of Absolute perform their work at the Open Art Surgery earlier this year, I made it a priority to find out more about their work. I was overjoyed at their piece which made me feel proud to be a woman and I wanted to find out more about this dance collective who specialise in dance forms such as: Waacking, Contemporary, Ballet, Hip-Hop, House, locking, Hustle and Popping.

I talked to founder Julia Cheng about the company and what has fuelled her journey to this point. 


What is it about Waacking that you love?

I got into Waacking because my contemporary teacher at the time encouraged me to do it. I went to New York to learn, and was keen to find out more about the roots of the dance style and was lucky enough to be taught by a teacher there called Tyrone Proctor. I find it a very empowering dance style in which you get to be yourself. Waacking isn't just about the arms but its really about internal movements and the realness of yourself coming out. It's about embracing all sides of yourself and letting the different parts of your character and personality break through. You have to be really honest in the dance, because when you're not it can really show. That's what I love about it. 

How would you describe the ethos of House Of Absolute?

If I could describe what we are about, essentially it is to be the best that you can be, and to work really hard for it. I always encourage the girls to work and to be their best in the moment. We all have different styles and different backgrounds, and I try to encourage the culture of learning from each other and to keep evolving. The more we learn from each other, the better we can be. We can have a wider dance vocabulary and be stronger together. I try and share the idea in our workshops that you need to bring out your inner King and Queen, to dance to music that moves your soul and to always dance with love.

I love it! That's a great mission statement for how we should live our lives really isn't it?

Exactly! Life is reflected in movement and movement is reflected in life. It's also about Womanhood, pushing each other and having a stronger voice together. It's also about using that to be able to stand on your own too. We have a wide range of ages in our group, and I want the girls to embrace being a woman, it's about not apologising for it. Not apologising for being vulnerable, emotional, sensitive or for being who you are.

What was your experience like at Open Art Surgery in March this year?

The experience was a challenge for us. We were lucky in that we were given our own space and time to develop our work by the other artists, but nothing comes without struggle. We had some problems with the mic on day two, and started to create the work on day three, but the whole process was important and reflecting back I can see that the challenges made the process what it was. It was great to hear the responses from the audience. My intention is to connect to the audience in some way, it's not always one set message but more a series of ideas that I explore. If someone connects with the piece in any way, it's a positive thing. One lady who was an artist described our work as a painting. I loved hearing that from a different artist who wasn't a mover and whose movement language was different to ours.

I understand you now have a younger member of the group. What are your thoughts on inspiring younger people into dance?

I've been mentoring and teaching for the last ten years now and I've worked on a lot of big projects with young people from different backgrounds. I've been able to see how movement has been an avenue for people to be able to express themselves, to express the things they're going through, and to channel it or speak about it without having to necessarily use words. Yes, I could teach choreography or a routine but the essence of the person in their soul is how they improvise naturally to something through spontaneity in that moment. So performance is important, but choreography is something we can take time to learn, and young people can be very good at creating, expressing and opening up that side of themselves. 

What does it mean for you to perform at Breakin' Convention this year?

It's always been on my horizon. I'm happy that Waacking is being included on the platform, although it's quite experimental. After having the space to rehearse it at Open Art Surgery, it gave us a good few days to start making a scene and developing the work, and it was great to be invited back to spread the word of House Of Absolute. It's always been a platform that I have been excited about, I love that's it's theatrical rather than just a showcase, and it has always been an experimental platform that has helped bring the essence of hip hop culture.

Who is your dance hero?

I've never really had a dance hero but I have people that inspire me. My mentor Stuart Thomas who took me on as a contemporary student at the age of 23 is one of those people. His career went against the conventions and his story is quite spectacular in how he has completed his journey in dance. He passed on his method of teaching to his students and he taught me a lot. He's a very generous person, he's very artistically giving without expecting anything back and that has been a great quality to learn.

Even other people who aren't dancers have inspired me, like Aung San Suu Kyi and her story of her incarceration and the strength she showed as a woman. Also Bruce Lee! I grew up watching him and reading books about him. He's someone who has changed the way that Chinese people were looked upon. To have respect and be seen as the equal when you're the minority is a great thing, and I learned a lot about celebrating your difference and your story through these people.

What future projects have you got coming up?
   
There will definitely be some development of 'Warrior Queens' which is our performance piece at Breakin' Convention. This has been inspired in a modern context by House Of Absolute's ethos, but also comes from a previous idea I worked on around the story of Mulan and how she disguises herself as a man to take on battles but has a strong female energy too. There's a strong element of fighting for yourself, for other people, and taking on that fighting spirit that you can't ignore. So in a modern context I've taken that myth and the ethics of the piece is imprinted in that and who we are. 

I've been commissioned to create a film with Chinese Arts Space that will be shown at the Southbank, I've got some other projects with filmmakers and I've been collaborating with some artists in France. I'm going to be choreographing a piece for Motus Festival in Milton Keynes which will be a collaborative piece with other artists too so there's lots to look forward to!

Look out for Julia Cheng and her dance collective House of Absolute at Breakin' Convention 16' on Saturday 30th April in the Lilian Baylis Studio.

@KoleskDance

www.houseofabsolute.com 

Breakin' Convention Saturday 30th April Schedule