The Ruggeds, State Shift, Sadler's Wells

The Dutch crew The Ruggeds return to London under the umbrella of Sadler's Wells Breakin' Convention with State Shift, a dpuble bill of works that explore the theme of adaptability, something The Ruggeds know all about.

This crew has been going since 2005, and have won too many awards to list, including the tile of World Champion Breakers. Those who haven't seen them perform on stage, perhaps in previous editions of Breakin' Convention, may have seen their work in music videos, such as Justin Bieber's Where Are U Now.

Their forthcoming programme is made up of two pieces: the solo Turns and the duet Waterbrothers. It is perhaps more intimate than your usual breakin' show, though it requires as much skill and poise.

Here's a taster - NOTE: this trailer contains a sequence with strobe lighting


Both pieces take water as their inspiration, either going with the flow or against the current. In the duet Waterbrothers, Lee (Lee-Lou Demierre) and Roy (Overdijk) challenge each other in a stream of movements in which the younger brother, Lee, sometimes storms past the older one.

The solo Turns is performed by international b-boy Virgil ‘Skychief’ Dey. Both numbers have musical accompaniment by Jessy ‘Boi Beige’ Kemper.