Breakin' Convention

     On the 11th of May 2012, Georgia and I wen to see the Breakin' Convention tour at the Theater Royal/Drum Theater in Plymouth. The production was: 'An international festival of HipHop dance theater'. Although the art form was obviously dance- it did include some beat boxing which was new to us both. I had not seen things exactly like it before: apart from the BeatBreakers crew, whom I had seen before in a cultural dance festival at Plymouth University (in which I performed also).

     Overall, I found the whole experience breath-taking and I recommend to anyone and everyone as it is something worth going to see. I saw it free with the ANLO scheme but I definitely would have paid money to see it if I had needed to. The night consisted of 2 performances, one in the drum Theatre (a little theatre adjoining the main theatre) and one in the main theatre. In the drum performance my friend and I had to be separated as seats were not allocated, although I didn’t mind too much as we were directed to front row seats! This performance consisted of an opening by beat boxer Dainjamouth, who was then followed by Puzzle, A group consisting of both boys and girls. Their performance included a main dance at the start and end but in the middle different group came on a did a bit, like a group of approximately 7 year olds and two groups of teenage girls. They were very good individually but when performing together it was unpolished and out of time, and you could really differentiate between the good dancers and the people who did it for fun. After puzzle was ‘Express Crew Street Factory’, who were very good and very cute. They were a group of about 10 6-10 year olds? (Although I am not entirely sure about their ages). They were absolutely phenomenal, especially for their age.

The main show in the Theatre royal was a lot better I think. My views about the different performances:

o   BeatBreakers- As I have seen these before- I found myself comparing the two different performances, and I have to say that I preferred their performance last year as they had more variation in their music- which was also well know compared to this time. But they were still incredible and their timing and choreography was tight and well executed.

o   TrashDollys Dance Company- Although good as is expected for an event like this, both my friend and I found it dreadfully boring and unexciting. We thought the same about Class 66. This was also boring and a bit unfortunate as their piece lasted 15 minutes.

o   Tricky Crew- My friend and I both thought this to one of our favourites, It wasn’t too long and was very captivating and cleverly choreographed.

o   Vagabond Crew- As is specified in the program, this is the best B-Boy crew in the world, and this certainly showed in their performance. It was incredible but it was 35 minutes long and dragged on. Their theme was evident and sustained throughout and parts were very funny.

o   ILL-Abilities^TM- These were favourites of the night. I am not afraid to say I nearly cried in their performance it was so inspirational and brilliant. The program details their performance but not them. There were 6 people (one of which wasn’t there and they showed a video of him). One has lazy legs which meant he had to use crutches; I think he was one of the best. Another was born with a shortened arm and leg and next to no fingers (this was the one who was missing), Another 2 were missing both or one leg, one to cancer and the other’s feet are at knee height- the cause is suspected to be thalidomide as he has been like it since birth. Another was deaf- and he said during his solo that he creates his own beat in his head and this was incredible as it always seemed to fit and be in time with the others when they danced together. Overall, this group was awe-inspiring; I think it goes without saying as they got a standing ovation half way through their performance as well as afterwards. I love their motto: ‘No Excuses, No Limits’. It really puts thing into perspective and make you think. I highly recommend everyone checks out their website: www.illabilitiescrew.com

So… Overall it was absolutely incredible as I have already said, but I cannot put into words how this experience has made me feel (especially ILL-Abilities^TM).