hip hop theatre

CELEBRATING FOUR WOMEN CHANGING THE FACE OF HIP HOP

The world’s most prestigious annual hip hop theatre festival is bringing the best hip hop talent from around the world to our audiences for the 17th consecutive year in May. Breakin’ Convention’s 2020 edition promises to be the biggest yet, with a wide range of performers hailing from across the globe – from the UK to Canada, France, the Netherlands, South Korea and, for the first time, Peru.  

Ahead of International Women’s Day, we celebrate some of the exceptional female dance artists featured in this year’s line-up. We showcase their journeys within a traditionally male-dominated field and look at the ways in which they are changing the face of hip-hop dance.

A.I.M Collective (UK)
A.I.M Collective. Image: Dave Barros

This year’s festival features A.I.M Collective, a London-based collective of female poppers. A.I.M, which stands for Artistry In Movement, includes some of the strongest choreography and freestyle-based dancers in the UK. The group was established in 2018 by prominent UK dancer and choreographer Shawn Aimey. At Breakin’ Convention 2020, it will present a new piece entitled My London.

A.I.M Collective member Victoria Shulungu is fluent not only in popping, but in a variety of hip-hop styles, including Krump. She also produces for dance company Spoken Movement, has worked with Sadler’s Wells’ New Wave Associate Hetain Patel and is a member of the hip hop theatre collective Far From The Norm, led by artistic director and Olivier award-winning choreographer Botis Seva.

Why is your dance style unique to you?

Popping has been a style that I have always loved. I love exerting power and force but also being able to control what’s been shown by creating an illusion. Krump has grown on me now more than ever because it allows you to feel the most explosive feeling. The reason why I do these styles is because I love playing with tension and release. There’s no better feeling than that!

What does being a woman in hip hop mean to you?

Within the hip hop community, being a woman can be a blessing or a curse. I get tired of having to always differentiate the experience of being a woman. We have to do this all the time in our everyday lives. I aim to not always project this when dancing, but instead allow the power to speak through my movement and the energy I possess.

Victoria Shulungu (right) in Hetain Patel’s Don’t Look At The Finger. Image: Nick Matthews

What are your expectations for the Breakin’ Convention festival?

I look forward to being inspired by the performances. I’m also looking forward to having conversations with people I may never have crossed paths with. I just want to be a sponge in many different ways so that I can give back the same energy when I’m performing. Each one teach one – I guess that’s fair to say.

Yeah Yellow (France)

Yeah Yellow is an award-winning multidisciplinary hip hop dance crew. It was founded in 2012 by choreographers Camille ‘Kami’ Regneault and Julien ‘Bee D’ Saint Maximin. They  performed as part of Breakin’ Convention’s national tour in 2017 tour and were part of the Sadler’s Wells Sampled festival in 2018. To this year’s Breakin’ Convention festival, they bring their duet Dos au Mur (Back to the Wall). Accompanied by live musicians, the piece explores the concept of human evolution and the constant correlation between us and the society we shape.

Yeah Yellow choreographers Julien ‘Bee D’ Saint Maximin (left) and Camille ‘Kami’ Regneault (right). Image: Dan Aucante

Self-taught in hip hop dance, Kami began her career as a gymnast before setting her sights on the world of breaking. Since then, she has competed at several national and international battles and has gone on to win a number of major championship titles. She won the French B-Girl Champion title three times, in 2013, 2015 and 2016. 

Why is your dance style unique to you?

I like the performance side of breaking coupled with the search for originality. This discipline allows me to always seek ways to surpass myself physically, but also creatively.

What does being a woman in hip hop mean to you?

I do not necessarily seek to have a place as a woman in hip hop, but rather to have a place as a good dancer. I don’t want to be strong ‘for a girl’, but just strong. It’s really important to me. I want to show that nothing is impossible when we remove the psychological barriers that we, or society, have created.

Image: Camille Regneault.

What are your expectations for the Breakin’ Convention festival?

I would like to make people dream and show them the strength of Love. I speak here of Love with a capital L. For my part, the love of dance changed my life and allowed me to flourish. I think it is never easy to do what we love and believe in our dreams. I would like to inspire the courage in others to do just that. It’s an honour to do it at Breakin’ Convention, which is a must-see place for hip hop dance.

Paradox Sal (France)
Paradox Sal, Queen Blood. Image: Willow Evann

This all-female crew from Paris presents a powerful house dance piece entitled Queen Blood. Performed with grace, fluidity and power by eight dancers, it explores the concept of femininity. Queen Blood reflects a variety of moods and emotional states and fuses afro-house and hip-hop dance styles with music varying from pumping house beats to the dulcet tones of Nina Simone. The work is choreographed by Ousmane ‘Babson’ Sy, one of France’s first generation of house dancers and member of iconic hip hop dance crew Wanted Posse.

Choreographer and Paradox Sal member Linda Hayford said:

My fundamental style is popping. I like it because it allows me to create supernatural universes, using body control. From creating a living robot to slowing time, the effects you can create are endless but nonetheless grounded in sound and music. Popping is where I find the inspiration to develop a body language I have been working on since 2015, which I call ‘Shifting Pop’. It combines the popping technique with my own research on metamorphosis and its particularities. 

Linda Hayford. Image: Thibault Montamat

What does being a woman in hip hop mean to you?

Being a woman in hip-hop culture for me means giving yourself the place and space to build and own your identity – as a human being, as a woman and as an artist. It is about figuring out who you are now and who you want to become, which I think is the same intention for both men and women in hip hop alike. 

What are your expectations for the Breakin’ Convention festival?

I have never been to Breakin’ Convention, so I do not really know what to expect! But I have always heard good things about the good vibes and performances there, so I expect to have a great time and meet amazing people.

Spoken Movement (UK)
Spoken Movement members (l-r) Catrina Nisbett, Kwame Asafo-Adjei and ‘Boogie’.
Image: Dave Barros

Spoken Movement is a UK-based company that blends elements of street dance and contemporary dance to create their own movement vocabulary. We invited its founder and artistic director Kwame Asafo-Adjei to curate an evening in our Lilian Baylis Studio as part of the Wild Card series in 2018. Within the programme was duet Family Honour, which went on to win international choreographic competition Danse Élargie the same year. The company brought the work back to our stage last autumn, when as part of our FranceDance UK season we programmed Dance Élargie: Dance Expanded, an evening showcasing a selection of previous finalists and winners from the competition.

Spoken Movement members (l-r) Catrina Nisbett, Kwame Asafo-Adjei and ‘Boogie’.
Image: Dave Barros

Performed by dance artist Catrina Nisbett and Asafo-Adjei, Family Honour explores religious and cultural taboos in a Ghanaian family through the charged relationship between the two characters. They perform the piece on our stage for the third time at the Breakin’ Convention festival.

From a young age, Catrina trained with a number of London-based street dance groups, including Avant Garde Dance and Definitives. Well versed in a number of hip hop styles, she now studies contemporary dance at Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Why is hop hop dance important to you?

I fell in love with hip hop culture from a very young age, and was influenced a lot by older family members and peers. Growing up in the area that I did, the young people used to dance in the local community centre. I know for a fact that hip hop saved us. Now other styles such as popping, krump and contemporary inform my movement, but hip hop will always be my first love. 

Showreel video. Video: Catrina Nisbett.

On breaking down barriers in the art form:

To me being a woman in hip hop is about challenging the typical stereotypes of both women and men. I have never allowed my gender to define whether I can do something – within the art or otherwise. Even though initially it was subconscious, it is important that gender was, and is, my way of being honest and audacious in my expression.

What are your expectations for the Breakin’ Convention festival?

I am particularly looking forward to seeing how performing Family Honour multiple times a week will affect the piece – what new developments we may discover both within the piece and in ourselves as artists.

Breakin’ Convention is an integral part of Sadler’s Wells’ artistic programme. The festival takes place at Sadler’s Wells on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May 2020. Tickets are available here.

Main image: Catrina Nisbett. Photo: Dave Barros

“REASSURING. COMFORTABLE. OPEN. NEEDED”: HIP HOP ARTIST JOURNEYS BACK TO THE LAB

Four hip hop artists went Back To The Lab to develop their practice and create new work under the mentorship of leading choreographers, theatre makers and dramaturgs this month. Nathan Lafayette, Pervez, Shaadow Sefiroth and duo Cat Jiminez & Jaekwon took part in the latest edition of the artist development course, led by Sadler’s Wells Breakin’ Convention’s team.

Back To The Lab invites professional hip hop artists to explore and experiment with different choreographic methods. It supports them as they put their new-found knowledge into practice by devising new work, which is then presented to, and discussed with, a live audience at the end of an intensive, two-week period.

Ahead of the final sharing in our Lilian Baylis Studio on 25 January, we speak to Nathan Lafayette about his creative journey, tackling impostor syndrome and more.

Back To The Lab 2020 course participants ‘walk in’ video. Dave Barros.

What does going ‘Back To The Lab’ involve?

It’s very much a learning process in the first week. You’re picking up a lot of information, which at times can be quite overwhelming, but also reassuring. A lot of it is about extending our palette in terms of the tools we work with, and sometimes focusing more on one specific tool. Using an analogy that Mikey J [Asante, composer and co-founder of hip-hop dance company Boy Blue Entertainment] shared on a previous artist development course: “Sometimes you want to work with the hammer.” Back To The Lab helps me understand what my hammer is. It’s been interesting finding out how we work, sparking different conversations and hearing people’s perspectives.

Course participants and mentors during a Back To The Lab workshop.

We’re in the second week of the programme. Could you tell us a bit about what you’re working on and what are you most looking forward to?

The second week is more work focused. It’s about building your piece to show. This being the second week, it feels like we have all these tools we can choose to use, but also, it’s like there’s no right way to do it. Whatever way works for you is the way to work.   

Course participants Youngung Sebastian Kim (l) and Paz ‘Cat’ Katrina Jimenez (r) during a Back To The Lab workshop.

I’m looking forward to moving and trying things out, even if it does mess up, or it doesn’t feel correct. It’s been a while since I’ve had the space to make decisions, so it’s a bit surreal. I always say when I’m teaching a class: if you find something you don’t like, then you’ve learned that and you know what direction you want to go in. It’s about having the space to refine what’s already there.

Course participants Youngung Sebastian Kim (l) and Paz ‘Cat’ Katrina Jimenez (r) during a Back To The Lab workshop.

I’m also really looking forward to seeing how I work in the studio with someone else, whose movement I love and whom I really love working with. But also seeing how we learn from each other.

What’s a valuable piece of advice you’ve received so far? How has it impacted and informed your approach to your work?

A bit of advice that was given to me for my own movement by Ivan [Blackstock, choreographer] is to find out what my 100% is. Also, something [choreographer] Jonathan Burrows said about ‘decorating’ your work made me think a lot more about that. How can I decorate my work? How little or how much can I say through movement? I feel like my movement is very slow and internal, so it’s about learning the opposite of what I usually do and not holding back.

Back To The Lab mentor Jonathan Burrows with course participants.

Can you share a personal highlight of the course?

Working with Saskia, the dancer I’m creating this duet with. She’s such a beautiful mover and thinker, and sometimes when we’re next to people like that, we can go into ourselves a bit. We’re always going to see more in other people than we see in ourselves. Having conversations with Saskia and hearing how she works, but also what she appreciates in my own movement, has given me that reassurance in realising what my ‘superpower’ is.

Course participants Nathan Lafayette (l) and Saskia Horton (r) during a Back To The Lab workshop.

Have there been any challenges?

Working through the self-doubt and self-awareness has been on my mind for the last couple of years. I can look around a room and think ‘Oh, that person is dope because of this or that’, but I don’t often feel dope for anything. I don’t know what my ‘thing’ is. I feel more comfortable knowing now that I have accumulated what I’ve accumulated, and whatever I’ve accumulated is what I am. In a way, we become a cross-stitch of all our influences and teachers. I am a product of everyone I’ve ever interacted with and everyone that has taught me before. It’s been nice to be able to step back and understand that a little bit more on the programme.

How are you feeling about the final sharing?

I’m actually not that anxious about it. I definitely feel like there’s a sense of levelling up but knowing that I’m working with Saskia makes me feel less nervous. Having someone in the room to bounce off [ideas] means a lot; it settles my mind.

Nathan Lafayette (l) and Saskia Horton (r).

I’m kind of excited. Of course, [as it happens] inside every artist you want people to like your work. The purpose of a piece isn’t necessarily to inform, but it would be nice to know that mine puts the audience in a state of thought. The work is called Player2 and is very much based on a world of energy, chemical reactions, magnetism and vibrations. How elements react and come together is a core part of it. It’s turned into something that is quite scientific, but it uses science as an analogy for relationships. It would be interesting to see the piece as a catalyst that gets the audience to think about the people they connect with.

Nathan Lafayette (l) and Saskia Horton (r).

Could you describe the Back To The Lab experience in a few words?

Reassuring. Comfortable. Open. Needed. I’m in London, performing on Saturday at Sadler’s Wells theatre! To know that I’m one of four choreographers whose work is going to be seen is surreal.  It’s a great opportunity, but again, I don’t feel the pressure to do it ‘right’. Coming from Birmingham and being a part of something that is as high-profile for the hip-hop dance community as Back To The Lab, I feel even more of a push to represent myself.

Nathan Lafayette (centre) during a Back To The Lab workshop.

Breakin’ Convention presents Back To The Lab is at Sadler’s Wells’ Lilian Baylis Studio on Saturday 25 January. Tickets are available here.

Images throughout: Dave Barros.

Ivan Blackstock: “Hip hop artists are in a constant rush. This is an opportunity to experience an actual creative process.”

Six hip hop artists enjoyed a week of experimentation, creation and refinement of their practice under the mentorship of leading choreographers, theatre makers and dramaturgs as part of the latest Open Art Surgery course this month.

Delivered by Sadler’s Wells’ Breakin’ Convention team, the artist development programme involved hip hop artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, from dance and physical theatre to spoken word and design, in a series of intensive workshops to devise and develop new work.

With no pressure on them to come up with a finished piece as an outcome, the artists presented their work in progress at a public sharing at the end of the week. This unique format invites the audience to get inside the mind of the artists and to give them feedback, while offering artists a platform to take creative risks and test out new ideas.

We speak to hip hop choreographer and Open Art Surgery mentor Ivan Blackstock, delving into a day in the life of the artist development programme.

Mentor Ivan Blackstock (L) with Open Art Surgery participant Harvey Burke.

What does a typical day at Open Art Surgery look like?

A day in the life of Open Art Surgery sees the artists in the space. Mentors usually pop in every two to three hours just to see how they’re doing. It also involves giving artists the time and space to just be, which is very rare for a lot of them. What Breakin’ Convention tries to do is give the artists enough time to get in a good mental space before the mentors, come in and add, influence… or disrupt (laughs).

A lot of the artists are at different artistic stages: you have professional makers who are creating work already. Then you have the street and hip-hop dancers that have never touched theatre before. Then there’s this added layer of different artists, who range from beatboxers to emcees and writers. It ends up being quite a diverse lineup throughout the week. Where we come in is we see where they’re at, and how we can get them to where they need to be. When they need any guidance, we’re here.

For a lot of the artists, Saturday [the showcase day] can seem like doomsday, but we just have to remind them that everything’s going to be alright; the nerves, the uncertainty, it’s all part of the process. The truth is that even on the day of the performance it’s still a work in progress. I always say there’s ‘Phase 1’, and it’s completely up to you how many phases you want to go through. There is no rush to finish great work.

Open Art Surgery participants Harvey Burke, Sekou Diaby and Mollie Stebbing.

How would you describe your approach to working with the artists?  

The thing that’s amazing about Open Art Surgery is that there are different mentors for different needs and wants. I like to approach the work when there is something to look at. Aesthetic and design – those are the things I love to discover and seek out.  Then you have Anthony [Ekundayo Lennon, another mentor] who deals more with the drama and conflict. Jonzi [mentor and Artistic Director of Breakin’ Convention] obviously has multiple skills. We now have new mentors joining, who are also bringing new areas of expertise.

Open Art Surgery participants Helena Kate Amor and Ellen Wolf of dance and design duo Moving Mountains.

My approach is quite simple. I don’t like influencing the artists too early. I want to see where they’re at and what they’re saying for themselves, and then penetrate the layers. I’m not trying to make the layers for them. Each time I do it, it’s a thing where I come in as ‘bad cop’ – I think you need the mentor who is gonna be a little bit harder. That’s what helped me progress as an artist. We don’t wrap anyone in cotton wool because in our eyes, everyone is the same. Everyone is equal.

What are the ingredients for a strong piece or performance?

Technique is important. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the obvious technique we know sits in that particular style. For me, it’s more about skill. How sharp is your pencil? That’s what’s really interesting to me.

Open Art Surgery participants Frankie Johnson and Toyin Sogunro.

I think performance is equally important. How much are you willing to go and discover? How much are you willing to excavate a character? Performance can be seen as one-dimensional, but as human beings we have many different flavours within us. I personally get excited when I see more of an emotional journey in a performance.

Another thing I always say to the artists is to “make it lit”. What I mean by that is this X factor, this thing that isn’t explainable, that makes the piece go above and beyond. The more you make and explore as an artist, the more you start to find that thing, that language. Sometimes I don’t even need technique – I just need you to be within the work and show me how you can tell this story by being raw as hell. The way you execute a strong performance is finding a way to incorporate all of these things into one. That’s what’s really going to tickle my chakras (laughs).

Open Art Surgery participants Frankie Johnson and Toyin Sogunro.

Is there anything in particular that you’d like to see brought out of the artists and their work this year? 

Confidence. As artists, we all have self-doubt. Sometimes we don’t believe in our work or believe that it’s good enough. It can be quite lonely. As a mentee on the programme, you’re not by yourself. Likewise, as mentors, we’re not telling them what to do. We’re saying: “Let’s find a way to take the idea out of your head and action it.” Write it on paper. Record your voice. Record a phrase. Whatever it takes. It’s about putting your concept or your idea in different parts of your being, beyond the cerebral. When I’ve seen artists open themselves up to the process and start to build something, I’ve watched their confidence grow as a result, because they start to see their work from all these different angles.

Open Art Surgery participant Lionel ‘Mcjiver’ Joseph (L) and mentor Jonzi D.

What are the best aspects of being a mentor?

With Open Art Surgery, so many different types of artists walk through that door. Hearing all of their stories and perspectives and seeing how they approach and grow from those stories. Or seeing people who have never done hip hop theatre before, coming out of the process like “this is what I want to do.” Or someone who might be autistic, who never really had an opportunity to say how they feel or the platform to express themselves. This is why I do it. It humbles you: you realise that it’s not about you, it’s about them. Working on projects like this helps me look at the world differently, you know? By the end of it, I’m so chuffed and pleased for everyone.

Open Art Surgery participant Lionel ‘Mcjiver’ Joseph.

What, if any, are the challenges?

Making sure I have enough tools and using them wisely to help an artist. Sometimes an artist might need help in an area, and you don’t really have an idea of how to approach that task in that moment. Also, I’d say knowing how to problem solve both inside and outside the room. As mentors, our brains are still ticking over, long after a session finishes. We’re trying to figure out how we ease the artists’ process. What’s really interesting and fun is that we’re all going on a journey. There’s much learning and community in that process.

Open Art Surgery participant Shay D.

How do you see the relationship between hip hop and theatre?

Hip hop and theatre – the relationship has always been there. You see it in old school movies like Breakin’ – at the end of it, it’s a theatre show. You’ll find that most of the newer dance films end in a full theatrical production. You can see the lineage throughout the eras, from jazz to the Harlem Renaissance. There is no debate. Personally, in my work, I like to give people the energy of hip hop and street culture, because I think both are very exciting. There’s something that hip hop does – I call it ‘edutainment’ [education and entertainment]. It’s exciting, it’s new, it’s fresh, but it’s also saying something.

Open Art Surgery participants (L to R) Amona Venice, Shirley Ahura and Mike Igbins, members of dance collective The Archetype.

Why are artist development programmes like Open Art Surgery important to hip hop in particular?

Not everyone from the hip hop dance realm wants to battle, or dance behind an artist. For most hip hop artists, our first port of call is to make a little show. It’s really important because we don’t have any conservatoires or vocational schools for hip hop. When I started out as a professional theatre maker, doing Back to The Lab [another artist development course delivered by the Breakin’ Convention team] and Open Art Surgery was the best thing for me. I got to schedule my own time, meet some great people and bring mentors into the process with me who understood my vision, ideas and helped me get to the next level.

Mentor Ivan Blackstock (centre) with mentees during an Open Art Surgery workshop.

That’s another great thing with Breakin’ Convention: once you become involved in their events and projects, you become part of the family. Then you realise that the family is a lot wider; they’re connected to the battle scene still, they’re connected to theatre, advertising and TV. You can take all the skills and ideas from the programme and transfer them to other areas.

Open Art Surgery is for people that are interested in going down the long-term route. With hip hop dancers, we’re in a constant rush: you only have a space for two hours, or you don’t have a space, so you’re doing a quick session in the street before it rains. This is an opportunity to experience an actual creative process.

Open Art Surgery participants Mike Igbins (L) and Pav Rai, members of dance collective The Archetype.

How would you describe Open Art Surgery, both the process and the final sharing, in three words?

Thought provoking. Insightful. Raw.

Header image: Owen Ling

Images throughout: Dave Barros

Breakin’ Convention is an integral part of Sadler’s Wells’ artistic programme. Open Art Surgery launches its first-ever programme in Wales in collaboration with Avant Cymru, which takes place in Wrexham on 10-14 February. Find more information here.

BREAKIN’ CONVENTION TO STRENGTHEN HIP HOP SECTOR WITH NATIONAL PROGRAMME

Sadler’s Wells Breakin’ Convention is set to deliver a three-year national programme to strengthen the hip hop sector thanks to a grant from Arts Council England.

Sadler’s Wells has been awarded £630,660 as part of the Arts Council’s National Lottery Project Grants funding programme. Using this funding, our Breakin’ Convention team will continue to build on the learnings and legacy of 16 years of successful hip hop theatre development with an ambitious new programme, Breakin’ Out.

Breakin’ Out will encompass three distinct and connected strands: Grass Routes partnerships, artist development and performance.

Grass Routes partnerships

This will see a new area of engagement for Breakin’ Convention. The programme will reinforce the national hip hop network by fostering relationships between hip hop artists and cultural institutions. Joining forces with six national practitioners – two each year – Breakin’ Out will deliver high-quality training at a local level, including youth projects, masterclasses and teacher training, as well as providing mentorship in organisational development. The first year partners will be with Dance4All in Bournemouth and Bad Taste Cru in Gateshead.

Breakin’ Convention Park Jam. Image: Paul Hampartsoumian

Artist Development

With no formalised training currently existing for hip hop artists in the UK, Breakin’ Out will provide a variety of progression routes at different points in their artistic journeys, giving more people access to hip hop at entry level and forging pathways into the sector. Breakin’ Convention will deliver its successful Open Art Surgery professional development project around the country, offering participants the opportunity to learn under different mentors and perform locally and nationally. Artists will also be offered bespoke ‘Higher Learning’ training days, focused on theatre practice.

Open Art Surgery. Image: Owen Ling

Nurturing the development of artists represents an integral part of the programme in the lead up to the opening of the UK’s first hip hop theatre academy, part of Sadler’s Wells’ additional, mid-scale venue to open in east London in 2022. The new theatre will be part of new cultural and education district East Bank, in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Performances

Breakin’ Out will reach out to wide and diverse audiences through two large-scale Breakin’ Convention national tours, engaging over 1000 UK artists and featuring 34 national performances. The festival will tour to cities including Norwich, Blackpool, Sheffield, Doncaster, Canterbury, Brighton, Plymouth, Poole and Birmingham in spring 2020 and 2022.  

Phase T (France) at Breakin’ Convention 2010. Image: Belinda Lawley

Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that, through the Arts Council’s support, over the next three years the programme will engage over a thousand artists and large audiences across the country, strengthening the UK infrastructure for hip hop and widening its reach.”

Jonzi D, Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist and artistic director of Breakin’ Convention, commented: “Breakin’ Convention has been a catalyst in the exposure and development of hip hop in the theatre. A hunger from artists and audiences has been created! We have a responsibility to continue supporting hip hop culture and this funding will enable us to strengthen the sector, and to prepare for the opening of Sadler’s Wells’ hip hop theatre academy in 2022.”

Breakin’ Convention Presents

Yaman Okur 1mm Au Dessus Du Sol. Image: Ragbui

After introducing audiences to the work of artist Pierre Rigale by presenting his work Scandale in 2018, Breakin’ Convention Presents returns with 1mm Au Dessus Du Sol (1mm above the floor), a collaboration between French choreographers Yaman Okur and Sébastien Lefrançois.

Curated by Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Jonzi D, the initiative provides a platform for the finest hip hop theatre makers to showcase a full-length work on our stage, as well as welcoming creations by contemporary choreographers working with street dance forms. Breakin’ Convention Presents: Yaman Okur and Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven’s 1mm Au Dessus Du Sol is at Sadler’s Wells’ Lilian Baylis Studio on 27 and 28 September 2019.