The current year is, of course, a very special one for hip hop: for the first time, this highly skilled discipline, which started life on urban streets, becomes an official Olympic sport and will feature in the Paris Olympics,
While we wait, though, we can enjoy hip hop in all its shapes and forms – krumping, breaking, popping etc – at Sadler's Wells over a weekend of performances on the main stage, alongside workshops and improvised events on the foyers and the Lilian Baylis studio.
The full line up of the festival can be found here. What follows is Culture Whisper's own selection of highlights:
--- Femme Fatale (pictured top) is an LA-based collected of three women from France, Mexico and South Korea. They'll perform their piece Unbounded, featuring popping, animation and robot to tell stories of street-dance and self-discovery on both Saturday and Sunday.
--- The UK has a very strong representation in this year's festival. The stunning Traplord, the company of Olivier Award-winning choreographer Ivan Michael Blackstock will perform a new piece on Saturday; new work from Olivier Award-winning Breakin' Convention veteran Boy Blue features on the Sunday line up; and ShaolinOrShao presents MP3 + Movement Init, a tribute piece to UK grime culture on Saturday.
ShaolinOrShao. Photo: Brandon Lee Anderson and Tyrese Luciano Mckenzie
---- Sons of Wind is a French troupe of multi-disciplinary artists working across dance, music, photography and video. It presents its freestyle piece Bounce on both Saturday and Sunday
---- South Korea will be represented by the multi-award-winning Jinjo Crew, which will perform on both Saturday and Sunday.
What | Breakin' Convention 2024, Sadler's Wells |
Where | Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN | MAP |
Nearest tube | Angel (underground) |
When |
04 May 24 – 05 May 24, 18:00 Dur.: TBC |
Price | £15-£30 |
Website | https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/breakin-convention-2024-international-festival-of-hip-hop-dance-theatre/#book |