Traces 7 fingers video

Check out this video of the circus performers from The 7 Fingers at Kings Cross to promote Traces.



The 7 fingers (correct Canadian-French name - 7 doigts de la main) have to be one of the most amazing acts that have I that aren't street dancers.

As I've already seen them three times (once at Sadler's Wells Sampled, once in Traces and once for their most recent show, Psy) i didn't see a reason to run another preview on the Traces, but that hasn't stopped it being one of our most searched for reviews.

That doesn't mean each time it comes to town you should miss it though! Like a cross between circus and b-boying, the gymnastics in 7 Fingers achieve stunts you won't believe and probably sets them back a few bob in life insurance!

Read our review of Traces here, and you can buy tickets from Ticket Master here (tickets from £10).

Traces is at the Peacock Theatre until 30 October

Breakin Convention video diary 5 - Film night and introduction to the performers

Friday was the Breakin' Convention 2010 film night, although throughout the day the acts had been arriving at Sadler's Wells from around the world. It's the last night the team will have before things start getting hectic...


Throughout the day, Jonzi D caught up with Adiaspora Collective, Phase T, Spread Expression, Hilty and Bosch and Suga Pop to get them to introduce themselves...

For more information on Breakin' Convention 2010, visit http://breakinconvention.com

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Breakin Convention Jane Sekonya-John

Jane Sekonya-John began her career training at the Johannesburg Dance Foundation in 1988 before gaining a scholarship at Ballet Rambert School of Dance in London during 1994. She will be performing her piece Spoti at Breakin' Convention 2010 on Sunday.

Interview with Jane Sekonya-John
By David Barros
 
Spotti: What is it about?
Spoti is a slang language for "fisherman's hat" in South Africa, so I took that and made it as a piece. The whole thing is about the story of a woman who was injured when she was young. Every time she puts on this hat it transforms her into her young self.
It not only transforms her into her young self, but it also brings back the memories of what she's been through, what she's done throughout her life until she had that injury, but she doesn't really want to remember or deal with it. Hence the reason why this spoti puts it over, she doesn't want to deal with it.

What is the message?
It can be anybody's story. As we know, people have different experiences when they have injuries in different ways, and whatever way they get through their pain or their healing or their story, its what makes a difference.

Where did the idea come from?
The idea was influenced by my injury, my personal injury. I was in The Lion King, I was one of the cast members and I was performing and I fell on stage - kapoop! - right onto my knee and I had to have major surgery on it.
Since then it took me a while to get through it and get back into performing, knowing, having to know my body and work around this knee. So that really encouraged me to do a piece about it.

Another thing I should say is the first time I performed it I actually swapped the legs! Meaning that the strong leg I used as the weak leg in the piece, and the weak leg I used as the strong one!
But as time goes on, and now it's what, 10 years down the line since I did the original performance? Now I feel that I had to swap it around and make it more real. 'This is the injured knee, so I am going to used the injured knee this time.'

What should people take away from it?
With this I'm hoping people will hear my story and experience what I experienced, and hopefully they will see it the way I portrayed it.

For more information on Breakin' Convention 2010, visit http://breakinconvention.com

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Breakin Convention video diary 4 - Chat with Leo (Via Grafik) and Suga Pop

Thursday's Breakin' Convention 2010 diary with Jonzi D features an quick chat with Leo from Via Grafik, who are responsible for transforming Sadler's Wells' back wall into an enormous canvas.

Jonzi also had a moment to catch up with Suga Pop and have a quick chat about the Greg Campbellok tribute, which takes place in Monday's show.

For more information on Breakin' Convention 2010, visit http://breakinconvention.com


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Breakin Convention video diary 3 - Future Elements

I wasn't about for the third part of the Breakin' Convention 2010 video diary, but for this video Jonzi was prepping the dancers for Future Elements (Thursday night).



Future Elements is where the kids get to 'run tings' as community groups get to perform ahead of the main festival in the Lilian Baylis theatre.

For more information on Breakin' Convention 2010, visit http://breakinconvention.com

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Breakin Convention Adiaspora Collective

The ADiaspora Collective is what you get when Vicki Igbokwe (Uchenna Dance) and Alesandra Seutin (Vocab Dance Company), collaborate creatively. Mixing Seutin's Afro-eclectic (African, contemporary, hip hop and Jazz dance, with spoken word and physical theatre) and Igbokwe's Urban Contemporary (House, Waacking, African, Contemporary and Vogueing) styles.

Frusted, their performance for Breakin' Convention 2010, was originally commissioned by East London Dance and Avant Garde, performed at Collabo as part of East London Dance's, season Dance Currents.

Interview with Vicki Igbokwe, choreographer for Uchenna Dance Company
By David Barros

Frusted: What's it about?
Frusted is about looking at the internal struggle that women face on a daily basis.

What's the message?
"Girl! I hear you and feel what your going though. Remember you are not alone." It is also a little bit of "I thought it was only me that went through that!"

Where did the idea come from?
The idea came from being in a studio full of women and realising we are all individual but go through similar emotions and scenario's in life. We (Alesandra Seutin and myself) wanted to create a piece that both us AND the dancers could own.

What you see is our life, our day to day struggles, our insecurities, us supporting each other, us feeling alone, us trying to hang on in there with life.

The dancers are powerful and take no prisoners.

What should people take away from it?
Life! Everyone has a different response to the work and we are interested in hearing these. There is not a particular 'thing' we expect you to take away. Above all we want you to enjoy the work and feel like you have been on some sort journey.

Whether you understand that journey or not, you feel it.

Breakin' Convention video diary 2 - Graffiti with Via Grafik

It's day two in the lead up to Breakin' Convention 2010. The graffiti writers have arrived, and they're preparing to transform Sadler's Wells into an enormous canvas.



André Nossek aka SLAVE (left) and Leo Volland aka BOE (right), collectively known as Via Grafik, joined Jonzi D by the back wall of Sadler's Wells which will be transformed into an enormous graffiti mural.

The mezzanine has been altered significantly to fit in the rigging in order for the back wall to get painted, and will span from the mezzanine to the second circle.

For more information on Breakin' Convention 2010, visit http://breakinconvention.com

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Breakin Convention 2010 Goodfoot dance

Goodfoot are a group of dancers that specialise in popping. They've been together for four years, and were recently finalists in Sadler's Wells' Global Dance Contest.


You can see Goodfoot at Breakin' Convention 2010 on Monday 3 May. 


Interview with Shakeel "Shak" Meetooa, dancer in Goodfoot
By David Barros

The Box: What's it about?
It's about every person's imagination running wild when they were kids, playing with an empty box. That's all you needed to have fun, a box. It could contain anything and everything. This one contains music, objects, scenes, laughter and dance.

What's the message?
Ultimately, we want people to be entertained. Hopefully everyone will have something they can take home with them. Whether it reminds them of when they were young, whether we made them laugh, or maybe they just enjoyed watching us dance. Maybe even if they leave thinking "what the heck was that??" We hope they'll remember it.

Where did the idea come from?
It came from us thinking how could we possibly do all the random things we wanna do on stage, haha. What could be the source of all our madness that would allow people to understand what we're trying to do without spelling it out for them? A box is uncomplicated. But what's inside is significant. We've added dance and music to an object with limitless potential... And we think we might be onto something.

What should people take away from it? 
Like I said earlier, even if you just laughed once, or saw a single move you liked, that's enough. We wouldn't want people to leave not remembering something when they hear the name "Goodfoot."

To find out about Goodfoot and where to take their classes visit www.goodfootdance.com

For more information on Breakin' Convention 2010, visit http://breakinconvention.com

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Breakin Convention video diary 1 - Breakin' Convention starts here!

It's the Monday, the week of Breakin' Convention 2010 and already, just by standing outside Sadler's Wells, I can feel the energy emanating from the place...


Monday 26 April 2010
All it takes is the glances of a few passers by looking at the Breakin' Convention 2010 poster and it makes you realise the impact it has had over the years, particularly since So You Think You Can Dance, and the retrospective envy I feel because TooMuchFlavour hadn't been about to keep a record of things since its inception...

In Jonzi D's Breakin Convention Diary today its all about setting the scene. Over the weekend some of the newspapers picked up on it, so its like this episode continues from what you saw on Sunday...

For more information on Breakin' Convention 2010, visit http://breakinconvention.com

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Breakin' Convention 2010 Unity and Unity Youth

You'll probably remember Unity from Move Like Michael Jackson, and their youth division, Unity Youth, from Got To Dance, but beside the TV appearances there's a deeper side to Unity that you'll see during their performance of Venus Vs. Mars Part 2 at Breakin' Convention 2010.

Interview with Tashan Muir, choreographer for Unity and Unity Youth
By David Barros


Venus vs Mars Part 2: What's it about?

It's a follow up to part one which we did last year, an in depth piece to make the audience realise how the first one came about. The first, performed at Serious About Streetdance was about domestic violence, this one showed how it happened. This is a prequel (although it's named part 2).
What I've done this time is incorporate the youth group. There are two young people in the youth group and it shows how they met at the start and how the violence started happening over the years.

The first one I had all the ideas, but it was rushed to get the routine out. We got a really good response to it. It's good that happened as we've been able to go in depth with it and explore it, hopefully it can grow into something bigger and better in the future.

What's the message?The message that we're tying to put across is domestic violence is something that happens. It's a thing where you hear about on the news. Loads of stuff happens in news every day, domestic violence is a thing that seems like it's not spoken about. A lot of women and men lose their lives for it, kids have to go into adoption and lose their welfare because of it. That's something we have to take. It's something I've gone through, and something others I didn't know others had too.

Finally, someone's speaking about it in a way that's positive because its a dance piece.

1) Women and men need to speak up

2) Let's tackle the problem.

Where did the idea come from?
My past. Going through it as a kid. It wasn't just about physical abuse, it was mental abuse. Just listening to people talk about it, that's where it comes from.

What should people take away from it?

The awareness. If you go through situations like that in your life and turn it to a positive, it's a good thing, also for the dance community. A lot of the dance community dance because they love it and coz they express themselves. If there are happy and sad issues, put it into your dance and see what can come out of it.

A lot of people say UK hip hop dance theatre isn't as good as the rest of the world. Breakin' Convention is the platform dance groups can use to express themselves. Hopefully we can push that along and others can express themselves and think about where you can take your dance: that's the message we want to put across.

Hopefully when people see it they will say "UK hip hop theatre can make it."

Does Blaze signal streetdance acceptance in theatres?

The twits aren't angry! What did Blaze do right that others didn't?
I don't wish to dampen Blaze's flame (when your show is named after anything hot you're open to lots of mediocre metaphors!). It's s brilliant show, had a successful run thanks to its (coincidental) tie to So You Think You Can Dance, with Tommy and Lizzie being two of the main attractions for new dance audiences, but it hasn't had as big a reaction on the social network scale.

The press night was awash with excited people, but behind the celebrity spin it's been a bit different in the blogosphere. Less anger, for one!

When a big show is coming up I use a Twitter tool called Hootsuite to track key words and see what people are saying about it. Sometimes I reply to them to get a bit of a debate going, drop them a link to our review, and the amount of tweets under each column gets bigger and bigger.

Last September I wrote a blog about the (laughable) literary outcry against Bounce's Insane In The Brain called Bounce criticisms holding back hip hop theatre? after reading people's opinions:

@ereuben Saw ad on the tube for "Insane In The Brain," a street-dance version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I need lithium & a passport STAT
@SaliWho I love One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest & hip hop, so why does this sound like horrific theatrical hell? http://twitpic.com/hoyb1

Etc. Which prompted an even angrier reply - click it to read it yourself, I'm not going to repeat that person's ignorance.

Blaze, complete with its Masonic symbols present (the pyramid intersecting a cup, if you haven't seen the Da Vinci Code) hasn't had the same reaction with the public (those connected via Twitter, at least).
No "this is an outrage!" No "not in MY West End!" Just tweets about how excited they were to see it, how much they liked it and why you should see it too.

The social network monitoring doesn't reflect the general consensus of the UK's opinions, I know, but shouldn't be disregarded for measuring people's interests. It's an interesting way to engage what people are thinking - @SaliWho, quoted above, even went so far as to take a photo of her theatre listings!

Have people finally grown to accept street dance in theatres? Or are they only happy about it when it isn't based on a classical text, a la Pied Piper or Into The Hoods? Interesting.

Blaze runs until 28 March.

Dance2HelpHaiti Fundraiser demonstrates hip hop's sense of community

I said it before in my report and I'll say it again - Dance2HelpHaiti was an event that should be remembered for being turned around the in the shortest time - and it showed the community that hip hop holds.

Off their own backs (with the support of Sadler's Wells), Zoonation and Impact Dance set up a fundraising day for the victims of Haiti earthquake, and hundreds of people turned up.
So many turned up, in fact, that the total amount raised stands at £2,458 (if you include those who donated online).

What's more, the choreographers involved, namely Kate Prince, Simeon Qsyea and Kenrick Sandy, took time out of choreographing for next week's So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) to be there at such short notice.

Choreographers, when commissioned for big jobs such as SYTYCD, won't usually have a lot of time on their hands, considering the time they need to travel, teach and rehearse. Yet after a few phone calls appointments had been moved around and all were able to make the time to do the fundraiser.

It made me think back to the Mr Wiggles Pioneers lectures where Wiggles and Billy Bizzness talked about this sense of 'community' in hip hop - well last Sunday was just that! Which is why I decided to ask: did Dance2HelpHaiti show the unity of hip hop dance today?

"The fact that we had hundreds of people pass through today shows what it's all about," said Hakeem to us afterwards. "It shows you can fall back on the community. There is a community, they (you) can tap into it, it shows that people do care about other people."

Check out Kate Prince and Hakeem talking about the unity of hip hop (from 2min, 54sec):


Further credit must be given to the dancer from Unity (and that's not a pun on the topic of this blog) who even reached out to our writer, Archie, who was watching as I took a class, and asked her how she was. It's stuff like that that brightens a person's day and shows how accepting people in hip hop are.

After leaving were were discussing this and she said to me "Even stuff like today brings people together and shows community - asking a complete stranger how they are."

I said "That's not just being polite. That's hip hop."

If your hip hop or street dance teacher isn't teaching you about the hip hop community or its history, find a new class.

Read the Dance2HelpHaiti report here.

You can comment below!

Breakin' Convention 2010: Submissions due and reserved seating information

Breakin' Convention 2010 Submissions due soon
Submissions for Breakin' Convention 2010 are closing next week - Friday 22 January. For any dancers or crews that haven't yet submitted their application there is only a little time left for a chance to apply to appear in the annual sell out hip hop theatre festival at Sadler's Wells.

If you think your dance group has the innovation to make it on stage, for more information, to read the guidelines and to enter, go to the Breakin' Convention 2010 submission page.

For an idea of the kind of originality Breakin' Convention team is looking for, read our review of Breakin' Convention 2008 and  Breakin' Convention 2009.

Breakin' Convention 2010 reserved seating
Tickets are now available for Breakin' Convention 2010, and they've done away with unreserved seating. This year there's the option of having a seated or standing ticket, with a price difference of £5, which is worth it if you've ever returned to your seat and found a stranger sat between you and a friend!

There's more ticketing information on booking for groups of people and theatre day passes here.

The event is always a sell out, so don't put off buying tickets until the last minute.
Seated (reserved) tickets are £20
Standing (proms - unreserved) tickets are £15

Buy Breakin' Convention 2010 tickets here.

Insane in the mebraaane!

INSANE IN THE BRAIN!!

To give you something to BOUNCE about (sorry about the puns, I'll stop!) and to celebrate the return of the hip hop take on "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," go check out our feature on the main site.

You may also go crazy (sorry, I said I'd stop) about the competition we're running.

Sign yourself up to the mailing list and we'll enter you in to a draw to win a signed Bounce "Insane In The Brain" poster.

Good luck!

Peace,

Flave

We're Excited About... Insane In The Brain

TooMuchFlavour Midweek updates!

WHAT a busy week it has been!

Whoever thinks journalism is a part time job, it is NOT, it's a lifestyle choice!

Two BIG updates for you, first up is the Funk Physics We-R-One bash. 1946 people, all with an interest in dance in one venue. A tremendously successful event.

Second is Sadler's Wells presents "Sampled," their annual show featuring selections from the 2009 season's dance theatre shows. I was there, notepad on my lap taking notes in the dark so you, loyal 2MF fans, would know what was hot and what was... lukewarm, at the least!

You know where to double click - TooMuchFlavour.co.uk - keep it locked!

More news and features always being added!