Breakin’ Convention has been shaking the foundations of Sadler’s Wells since 2004, when the theatre first threw open its doors to this joyful celebration of hip-hop dance. The festival’s founder, Jonzi D, has probably done as much as anyone in the UK to promote hip-hop in all its many varieties as an expressive and skilled form – one that rivals ballet in its dazzling technique.
Both the sheer pleasure and the virtuosity were on full display in the 20th anniversary incarnation that stunned with its range, from the raucous South Korean b-boys of Mover, who didn’t seem to have joints or bones, to the quiet intricacies of Threading Theater from the Netherlands, where three dancers quietly tied themselves in knots.
BBC Young Dancer 2022 winner Max Revell provided a gentle solo about identity, wearing a suit on backwards, rising and falling like a sad clown in a spotlight; the barefoot divas of Company Nicolas Huchard from France struck powerful poses and moved with expansive energy, elbows pumping, waacking in sinuous unison.
I found I was smiling with delight as one act followed the other, the packed audience responding knowledgably and appreciatively to every nuance of style. B-boys Redo and Samuka of ILL-Abilities (from the Netherlands and Brazil) astonished with their power and brilliance, and then, very deliberately, walked away into the wings, forcing a confrontation with our normal ideas of ability and disability; the Ghetto Funk Collective slid and grooved in slow, rhythmic motion on silent feet, their bodies loose, their vibe cool.
Near the end came Boy Blue, the UK’s own superstars, their 40 dancers filling the stage with a thrillingly tight routine, a display of synchronised brilliance, playing on their home crowd advantage to raise the roof. This level of technique is ferociously hard, but they make it look effortless. Pure joy.
Later in the week, another Sadler’s Wells associate artist, Russell Maliphant, brought his newest work to London. Vortex is loosely inspired by the flow and energy in the paintings of Jackson Pollock, and uses five dancers under Ryan Joseph Stafford’s lighting to create a series of images that conjure paint and structure through movement and light.
It opens with a man standing in front of a blank canvas – represented by a flat wooden board, moved around the stage on a gantry – his sinuous body seeming to melt into the surface, illuminated by golden light. As the piece progresses, it constantly plays with pictures of creativity, making shapes out of shadows, out of dancers bowing beneath an arcing bucket in flight, or sliding down the slanted wood like figures in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.
Near the close, the figures move under sand falling from above, curving their bodies in response to the swirls. The floor, scuffed by their movements, becomes another canvas. It is often extraordinarily beautiful and always intriguing, a work that uses simple means to explore the act of creation itself.
In the irrationalities of Arts Council England’s last funding round, the Russell Maliphant Dance Company lost its funding. It would be a tragedy if this meant that one of this country’s most thoughtful choreographers couldn’t continue his 27-year journey of exploration. In walking his distinctive path, he always finds something unique to say.
Star ratings (out of five)
Breakin’ Convention ★★★★
Vortex ★★★★
• Breakin’ Convention tours from 17 May-14 June
• Vortex tours from 16 May-29 June
