Breakin' Convention: The Boundary-Breaking Hip Hop Event Taking Over the Theatre Royal

For those who don’t know, what is Breakin’ Convention?
Breakin’ Convention is an international festival of hip hop dance theatre. It’s called that for two reasons. Firstly, because there will be breaking and it’ll be a convention… But secondly, we are breaking the convention of what people normally see in arts and theatre spaces. We’ve been going for twenty years, and we work with artists from all over the world of hip hop, who have a variety of styles. So we’re not just about breaking, but also popping, locking, krump dancing, Afrobeat. It covers all forms of street dance, and pushes away from what you may call institutional dance forms, like ballet and contemporary dance. 

How important is it to offer events that people might not usually associate with theatre? 
What we think is important is that the arts reflect all of society. Middle-class white people largely tend to go to the theatre. I think that’s partly because of the prices, but also a lot to do with the culture. So what we’re doing is presenting ‘diverse’ work within these spaces. That said, I wouldn’t call hip hop diverse - it’s the most popular dance form in the world at the moment. You’ll get more people across the globe who are interested in practising hip hop dance than classical ballet, for example. I guess a better way to put it is that we’re democratising the theatre space by bringing through art forms that come from and celebrate the working class community, who may usually struggle to both break into this scene and see themselves represented on stage. 

What can audiences expect when they stop by Breakin’ Convention? 
It’ll be a beautifully immersive environment before you even take your seat. There will be DJs playing music in the mezzanine, graffiti art all around the place. There’ll be a lot of great work from the local communities - and that’s particularly true in Nottingham, where there’s a fantastic hip hop history and some of the best rappers in the country. It’s a real pleasure for the Nottingham community to come out and perform, not in the context of a ‘battle’ - but in the context of a showcase. Often, hip hop events are usually battle-focused, whether it’s popping battles or rap battles. Yet this is all about everybody working together to share their work and their take on hip hop dance culture. 

How do you choose the Notts acts that will get to perform?
We work closely with Gareth from Unite the Scene, who is based in Nottingham and is our local Breakin’ Convention rep. What he does is gather lots of artists to present their work, and we collaborate closely to choose who we'll invite onto the stage. 

As well as the local representation, this has a very international focus - boasting acts from The Netherlands and South Korea. Why does hip hop have such a global appeal? 
It’s a very accessible culture. It’s not elitist in any way. You don’t have to enter the scene at three years old with classes paid for by mummy and daddy. There’s a fundamental culture of ‘each one teach one’; everybody is looking to help each other in our community. What you learn, you share, and that means anyone is welcome and can learn together - which often isn’t the case in institutional dance. 

As good as the community element of hip hop is, though, you can also achieve very high levels of excellence. The fact that there is the opportunity to be globally-recognised is so exciting. Look at events like Red Bull BC One. I don’t necessarily like to big up Red Bull, but they do have teams of elite dancers that they sponsor to travel the world and show off their talents. That the artists can get opportunities like that without ever having to formally study their craft is really special. The empowerment in hip hop culture is incredible. 

Breakin’ Convention is celebrating its twentieth anniversary with this tour. How has hip hop theatre evolved in that time? 
The best thing is that the theatre aspect hasn’t been some fanciful idea that’s burned out. It’s the opposite; the mixture of hip hop and theatre is now established around the world, which is really good. I think the fact that it’s not focused on battling has helped with that - it brings together a more diverse audience. Hip hop has been accused of being a male-focused genre over the years, but I think Breakin’ Convention has shown the amount of very strong, talented women that are part of this culture as well. 

How do you expect the genre to develop in the future? 
It’s still broadening. Over the past two decades, it’s grown massively in places like Eastern Europe, which has produced some brilliant dancers. Now, the likes of India are developing brilliant dancers of their own. I don’t see that expansion stopping any time soon. As it’s such a broad and accessible art, I’d even go as far as to say hip hop dance styles and street dance styles are replacing a lot of the spaces that were filled by contemporary dance and neoclassical techniques - it’s a big claim, but I stand by it!

Breakin’ Convention will take over the Royal Concert Hall on Wednesday 31 May