Hip-hop theater is a form of theater that presents contemporary stories through the use of one or more of the four elements of hip-hop culture—

b-boying Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

writing, MCing (rapping), and DJing. Other cultural markers of hip-hop such as

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

, and hip-hop dance can be included as well although they are not always present. What is most important is the language of the theatrical piece and the plot's relevance to the world. Danny Hoch, founder of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, further defines it as such: "Hip-hop theatre must fit into the realm of theatrical performance, and it must be ''by, about and for'' the hip-hop generation, participants in hip-hop culture, or both." Hip-hop theater productions appear in a wide range of platforms including single performances, week-long festivals, and traveling repertory companies. Board Chair Of the historic Philadelphia Freedom Theater and producing Director Of The Devon Theater Of Mayfair

Karl Dice Raw Jenkins Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

is the leader in hiphop theater with multiple of Grammy nominations as a singer producer and Playwright, The Last Jimmy [The kümmel, Freedom Theater, Adrienne Arsht & La Grand performances have all presented Karl. Karl's other works include Box A Hiphop Musical telling the life of enslaved African American Henry Box Brown. The King Of Love and more. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken word poet and dancer who has been commissioned several times to create and direct single hip-hop theater works. British people, British choreographer Jonzi D is the artistic director of the London-based Breakin' Convention, a week long hip-hop theater festival.

Rennie Harris Lorenzo Harris (born January 28, 1964) is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and professor of hip-hop dance. Harris formed the first and longest running hip-hop dance touring company, Rennie Harris Puremovement in 1992. In 2007, he conceiv ...

, Mourad Merzouki, Kwesi Johnson and Victor Quijada are artistic directors who run hip-hop theater companies in the U.S., France, UK and Canada respectively. The Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians pioneered this theatrical genre which started in the United States.

History

Though hip-hop culture has managed to establish itself on film, on television, in fashion, in music, and in the dance industry, it has not gained the same momentum in theater. Stage productions are few in number but growing. The first hip-hop stage shows were 1990's. 1994 Saw Kwesi Johnson's 'Searching for a Shaman' premier on 20th April at Nott Dance Festival,

off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

''So! What Happens Now?'' , 1995's ''Jam on the Groove'' which were co-authored, co-directed, and co-choreographed by Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon and Steffan "

Mr. Wiggles Steffan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente is a street dancer, noted for his popping skills. He is a member of the Rock Steady Crew, The Electric Boogaloos, Tribal Click, Zulu Nation, and TC5, also known as The Cool Five or The Crazy Five. Wiggles has bee ...

" Clemente. Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians performed in both shows. Aside from the pioneers in New York City was Lorenzo "Rennie" Harris' Puremovement (RHPM) hip-hop theater company which Harris founded in 1992 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The company has toured all over the world showcasing its original works such as ''March of the Antmen'', ''P-Funk'', ''Endangered Species'', ''Facing Mekka'', and ''Rome & Jewels''. RHPM also organizes the annual Illadelph Legends Festival which brings together the pioneers—the people who were

, locking, and

popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance) cultural movement in Oakland, California. As Boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as Robottin in Richmond, California, Strutting movements in San Francisco and San ...

in the 1970s when these styles were developed—and respected practitioners of hip-hop dance to teach master classes, give lecture demonstrations, and participate in panel discussions. Hip hop music continues to influence musical theater. Rap is used popular musicals such as ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'' and '' Dreamgirls'' While more notable for funk than hip hop, the Broadway musical '' Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk'' fuses

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

and hip hop dance styles, and includes rap. Hip hop music was used in

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

shows in the 1990s and early 2000s, with the musicals ''So! What Happens Now?'' and ''Jam on the Groove''. '' In the Heights'' used hip hop music, rapping and hip hop dancing. With music and lyrics by

Lin Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animate ...

and book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, it was performed off Broadway in 2007. The 2008 Broadway production fused salsa and hip hop styles, and included rap. Miranda brought hip hop to Richard Rodgers Theater a second time in 2015 with his production ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

''. The show had box office success. ''Hamilton'' and ''In the Heights'' included rap and the cast recording of ''Hamilton'' made a number one album on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

rap charts. The success of ''Hamilton'' shows that hip hop can have a key role in musical theater.

Repertory companies

Other hip-hop theater companies were founded in the 1990s. Compagnie Käfig is a French hip-hop theater company of mostly

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n descent founded in 1995 by Mourad Merzouki. Their performances mix standard

, locking, and

with capoeira, mime, and gymnastics. They use the same fusion in music by mixing

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

with

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and Andalusian guitar. While on tour in the U.S. they performed at Jacob's Pillow in Massachusetts and at the Joyce Theater in New York.

Bintou Dembélé Bintou Dembélé is a dancer and a choreographer who is recognized as one of the pioneer figures of Hip hop dance in France. After having danced for more than thirty years in the Hip Hop world, Bintou Dembélé has been the artistic director of h ...

performed at the Joyce Theater in New York with Mourad Merzouki's Compagnie Käfig in 2002. That same year she created her own dance company, which she describes as being mainly inspired by Pina Bausch's notion of 'danced theater'. The Groovaloos are a hip-hop theater company based in Los Angeles that was founded by Bradley "Shooz" Rapier. They started out in 1999 as a

dance crew The history of hip-hop dances encompasses the people and events since the late 1960s that have contributed to the development of early hip-hop dance styles, such as uprock, breaking, locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping. African America ...

and eventually developed a stage show called ''Groovaloo'' that is a series of stories based on the true life experiences of the dancers. Company members include Edmundo "Poe One" Loayza, Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio from JabbaWockeeZ, and Teresa "Rag Doll" Espinosa from

Beat Freaks Beat Freaks is an all-female breaking dance crew from Los Angeles, California. Each of its ten members have achieved individual success dancing before taking part of the group, which was created in 2003. The Beat Freaks were featured on MTV's ...

. RUBBERBANDance Group (RBDG) was founded in 2002 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

by Los Angeles native Victor Quijada. Quijada first started dancing as a

b-boy Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

Baldwin Park, California Baldwin Park is a city located in the central San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,176, down from 75,390 at the 2010 census. History Baldwin Park began as p ...

. He studied modern dance in high school and after graduating went on to become a professional dancer under

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. He started RBDG after leaving the Montreal ballet. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the style of dance his company performs "post hip-hop" because it's a fusion of hip-hop dance and ballet.

Independent performances

Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken word poet and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

who frequently directs independent hip-hop theater productions. Some of his works include ''Word Becomes Flesh'', ''De/Cipher'', and ''No Man's Land''. He collaborated with Rennie Harris in 2007 to create ''Scourge'', a play about

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

's social-economic struggles. Joseph directed the play while Harris served as the choreographer. In 2008, he created ''the break/s'' which is based on the book '' Can't Stop Won't Stop'' by Jeff Chang. Other solo hip-hop theater artists include Sarah Jones who headlined the first Hip-Hop Theater Festival and award-winning playwright Will "Power" Wylie who collaborated with Danny Hock on his one-man play ''Flow''. Also, West Coast feminist writer/performer

Aya de Leon Aya de Leon (born 1967) is an American novelist and activist who teaches at the University of California Berkeley. She first came to national attention as a spoken-word artist in the underground poetry scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a ...

whose award-winning show "Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop" focused on fighting sexism and consumerism in hip hop.

Festivals

*Rencontres de la Villette is a two-week hip-hop theater festival started in France in 1996. Unlike the other theater companies mentioned, Recontres de la Villette was started with the help of government subsidies from the Ministry of Culture to promote

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

. *Hip-Hop Theater Festival was founded in 2000 in New York by playwright and actor

Danny Hoch Daniel Hoch (born November 23, 1970) is an American actor, writer, director and performance artist. He has acted in larger roles in independent and art house movies and had a few small roles in mainstream Hollywood films, with increasing expo ...

. The week-long festival starts in Washington, D.C. and tours annually to New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. *

Breakin' Convention Breakin’ Convention is an international hip-hop theatre festival based in London, England 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 ...

was started in 2004 by playwright and dancer Jonzi D and is housed annually at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

in London. Every year starts off with a three-day festival in London. After the London festival, the convention tours to other cities in the United Kingdom. *

Hip Hop goes Theatre Hip Hop goes Theatre is an international hip-hop theatre festival based in Salzburg, Austria, that was founded in 2008 and is produced annually by the NPO Urban Foundation. It has been under the artistic direction of Alexander Wengler and Serg ...

is a theater festival that was started in 2008 by dancers Alexander Wengler and Sergej Pumper in Salzburg, Austria.

References

External links