As Breakin’ Convention returns to Sadler’s Wells this May for its landmark celebration of global hip hop dance theatre, UK artist Lauren Scott joins a dynamic line-up featuring some of the most innovative talents in the scene. Performing as part of both the main Breakin’ Convention weekend and the Festival of Emerging Artists (Fes), Lauren brings a bold choreographic voice shaped by street styles and storytelling. We sat down with Lauren to talk about her journey through hip hop, her creative process, and what it means to be part of two boundary-pushing platforms spotlighting new and established voices in the culture.
Your background blends theatrical training with street dance forms like popping and hip hop. How has this dual lineage shaped the way you approach choreography, especially in this new duet with Matthew Eudu?
I wanted this piece to feel more like a play than a traditional dance performance. I’m drawn to how naturalistic theatre and set design can draw the audience in, rather than performing directly to them. That thinking led to a set design that disrupts and obscures the performance space, encouraging a sense of discovery. I approached the duet as a character-driven narrative, each dancer has their own specific mannerisms and emotional expression. It’s a way of storytelling without words, using movement to build something that feels theatrical, layered, and rich.
This is your first staged duet with Matthew—can you talk about the creative dynamic between you two as battlers and how that informed the structure or energy of the piece?
Matthew and I have known each other for years through the UK street dance community. We’ve battled together and share a common language rooted in freestyle and popping. There’s a real sense of play when we work, it’s collaborative, intuitive, and grounded in mutual trust. We spend a lot of time ‘labbing’ bouncing off ideas through improvisation and structured tasks I set. The piece evolved organically from that back-and-forth with my direction. I really value our connection, both creatively and personally, he’s not just an inspiration, but also a close friend. I know we’ll keep building together.
Your upcoming work explores the idea of confronting one’s childhood self. What sparked this concept for you personally, and how did you go about translating such an internal, emotional theme into physical language?
I’ve always been fascinated by the way our inner world changes as we grow up, how imaginative and playful we are as children, and how easy it is to lose that sense of wonder. I try to hold onto that part of myself, and this piece is about reconnecting with it. It explores the idea that our childhood selves still exist within us, and through the relationship between the two characters on stage, we’re reminded of that.
You’re blending naturalism and surrealism in the piece. How do you navigate those shifts in tone and perspective, especially when working with a style like popping that’s already so visually expressive?
Popping naturally leans into the surreal, it plays with illusions and can bend reality. I wanted to use that within a more grounded, naturalistic set to create contrast and depth. The staging helps carve out an abstract yet tangible world between the characters. For example, Matthew wears a regular suit, but yet has a television for a head, adding a surreal twist to something familiar. That tension between the real and the dreamlike is something I love playing with. I often use props and masks to tell human stories, It’s challenging but exciting to strike that balance.
Breakin’ Convention has long been a hub for global hip hop talent. What does it mean for you to present this work as part of the festival, and how do you see your voice fitting within the wider movement of hip hop theatre today?
It’s an honour and something that was once a dream to be sharing my work on the main stage with Breakin’ convention. To share my work feels very special, especially being a young, female emerging artist. There’s a queerness in the obscurity and world building within my work which I feel is fairly unorthodox within hip hop theatre – particularly within popping. There’s also femininity within the work which is an interesting intersection when using male dominated styles such as popping and hip hop and within a male dominated culture. I think it’s important to share my work for my generation but also the next generation.
You’ve performed everywhere from Somerset House to working with brands like Nike and Formula 1. How does creating for a theatrical context like Sadler’s Wells challenge or free you differently than commercial or site-specific work?
It’s really freeing in the sense that there’s a lot of opportunity when working in a venue such as Sadlers, in terms of lighting, design and concept rather than site specific work. Work presented on stage can also be longer, meaning I can explore ideas more fully and with more attention to detail and you have the audience at the palm of your hand with their undivided attention for those 10 minutes. My own choreographic work can be creatively more fulfilling as there’s a longer process and time to build collaboratively. For example, this work collaborates with original music from one of my favourite composers, Andrew Wasylyk, whose sounds contribute to the dream-like world that emerges.
There’s a lot of problem solving involved in choreographic work which can be more challenging but ultimately very fulfilling when you stand back to observe what you’ve created. Seeing a seed of an idea becoming a full piece you’ve developed is a unique feeling less often found in commercial spaces as solely a dancer.
Tickets and info : https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/breakin-convention-fierce-friday/
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