Breakin’ Convention is an international
hip-hop theatre festival based in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
that was founded in 2004 and is produced annually by
Sadler's Wells theatre.
It has been under the artistic direction of playwright and dancer
Jonzi D since its inception. Since May 2008 Breakin’ Convention has expanded its activity beyond the three-day festival to include tours across the
UK, developing new theatre work with local hip-hop artists, and to produce year-round professional development courses for UK-based hip-hop choreographers, artists, and dance/theatre companies.
Festival origin
Early in 2004, Jonzi D and recently appointed Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler's Wells,
Alistair Spalding
Sir Alistair Spalding (born 25 August 1957, Stotfold, Bedfordshire) has been the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler's Wells theatre since 2004.
Early career
Spalding's first job in arts management was at the Hawth Theatre, Crawley, ...
, proposed the idea of a hip hop festival that took over the entire venue celebrating
hip hop culture
Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx, New York City. Hip hop culture is characterized by four key elements: rapping, DJing and turntablis ...
with an emphasis on dance. Jonzi D was appointed as an Associate Artist at the theatre in March 2005 and founded Still Brock Productions (later: Jonzi D Productions) to focus on education and professional development of
hip hop dance
Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in ...
in the UK. Breakin' Convention brought over early pioneers of the culture including The Electric Boogaloos, Tommy The Clown and Vagabond Crew, and introduced future award-winning companies such as ZooNation and Boy Blue Entertainment.
Breakin' Convention is supported by
Arts Council England.
See also
*
List of hip hop music festivals
The following is an incomplete list of hip hop festivals, which encapsulates music festivals focused on hip hop music or other elements of hip hop culture. Hip hop music, also called rap music,Encyclopædia Britannica article on rap, retrieved ...
*
Hip hop culture
Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx, New York City. Hip hop culture is characterized by four key elements: rapping, DJing and turntablis ...
*
Battle of the Year
Battle of the Year, commonly referred to as BOTY, is an annual international breakdancing competition that began in 1990. It has been regarded as the premier b-boying competition in the world
and has been referred to as the "World Cup of B-Boying" ...
*
The Notorious IBE
The Notorious IBE is an international hip hop dance festival festival in Heerlen, The Netherlands. Between 1998 and 2005 the festival took place at Nighttown in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 2008 the festival moved to the city of Heerlen in the ...
References
External links
Breakin' Conventionofficial website
Sadler's Wellsofficial website
2MF magazine feature
Theatre festivals in England
Festivals in London
Dance festivals in the United Kingdom
Hip hop music festivals
Music festivals established in 2004
Hip hop theatre festivals
Music festivals in England
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