Dance review: Breakin' Convention

Published on 19/05/2009 19:06

BREAKIN' CONVENTION *** EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE

WORD has clearly got out since the last Breakin' Convention. Drawing a respectable crowd in 2007, the hip hop event has grown in popularity, playing to full houses this year. Which is both positive and negative. On the upside, the Festival Theatre was buzzing for four straight hours, with an electric atmosphere unparalleled at the venue. Huge crowds filled the foyer, enjoying impromptu breakdancing, DJs, dance lessons, graffiti art and free smoothies.

On the downside, the international acts on the main stage struggled to reach the high standard set by their 2007 predecessors. Nobody came close to the athletic power of Franck II Louise or the old school genius of the Electric Boogaloos. All three of this year's headliners had something to offer, but for various reasons fell just short of the mark.

French hip hop clown Salah won his country's equivalent of Britain's Got Talent – which gives you some indication of style. Taking on a squeaky-voiced alter ego, he gets the crowd onside with his cute pyjamas and teddy bear. Having established himself as childlike, however, Salah then goes on to flirt with the audience and juggle imaginary testicles. When he actually dances, his technique is amazing – but for some reason this accounts for less than 20 per cent of his act.

New Yorker Ken Swift is responsible for creating many of the moves thrown down by today's breakers, and respect is most certainly due to him and the other members of the VII Gems Rock Dance Division.

For the teenagers in the audience, however, watching this lot must have felt like watching teachers dance at the school disco.

South Korean company Myosung boasts some of the world's finest breakdancers, but its mix of sledgehammer politics and lame humour only served to mask the true talent beneath.