Once a year Sadler’s Wells goes hip-hop mad. For more than 20 years the London venue’s Breakin’ Convention festival — the world’s largest showcase of hip-hop dance-theatre — has highlighted the transformation of street dance into one of the most important influences on our dance stages.
Over three days the Wells was bursting with performances, workshops, live DJ sets and audience participation in the foyers. I went along to check out the Saturday night line-up, which brought together talent from the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. If nothing else, the programme showed how varied and innovative the art form has become. No longer is it just about head spinning and heavy beats.
The evening began with Jonzi D, the festival’s indefatigable artistic director, whipping up the crowd — both seated and standing in a moshpit in front of the stage — to cheer as loud as possible as often as possible, which they duly did. And there was something to cheer about.
BirdGang, for starters. The British crew, celebrating their 20th birthday, gave us Constellation, a snapshot of their invigorating, punchy style performed by more than two dozen masked dancers. Hip- hop may be at the heart of their athletic movement language — astounding agility and full-body articulation — but it serves a theatrical imperative. Meanwhile, the Ruggeds, the world-beating breakdancing troupe from the Netherlands, were also celebrating their 20th anniversary and in the mood to look back at some of their bruising and bravado routines.
The energy level dipped with Chandenie Gobardhan’s quartet. An unusual blend of bharatanatyam, hip-hop and contemporary dance, it was weighed down by too many good intentions. And what of Lauren Scott’s duet performed with Matthew Eudu (aka Omni)? A surreal reflection on facing the past and finding solace in the present, its message failed to hit home. From Belgium came the krumper Illi Wild with his intense, tortured and enigmatic solo performed — like everything else here — on a ludicrously dark stage.
It was a serious misjudgment, though, to devote the second half to Témoin, which had something to do with embracing your individuality while being part of a large group. This work by the French choreographer Saïdo Lehlouh was gloomy, self-indulgent, listless, long-winded (about an hour) and with a droning score as boring as the choreography. A far cry from the high spirits and infectious energy of BirdGang.
★★★☆☆
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