Breakdancing

Festival of Museums set for nationwide celebration of Scotland’s culture in May 2011

Music, storytelling and period fashion among highlights of new festival

1 May 2011

From the Groam House Museum in Ross-shire and Portsoy Bothy in Banffshire, to the Annan Museum in Dumfries and Galloway, the Festival of Museums features an eclectic and colourful range of concerts, talks, workshops, performances and exhibitions taking…

Still Breathing

Impressive but joyless contemporary dance

18 Aug 2009

There’s plenty to admire in this new show by all-male company 2FaCeD DaNcE, not least the virtuosity of UK breakdancing champion, Robby Graham. Plus some incredibly tight ensemble routines, which fuse street dance with contemporary to explore the…

Why Hip Hop show Breakin' Convention has the original spin

14 May 2009

In May 2007, hip hop came to Edinburgh. A laughable comment for those already immersed in the scene, but for many people it was the start of a beautiful friendship. Having taken London by storm every year since 2004, Breakin’ Convention finally branched…

Hiphopedia

13 May 2009

Underneath those flat tops and sweet kicks, there are four components to being a true hip hop devotee. What are B-Boys – and B-Girls – made of? Breaking, or B-boyin’ This dance style started in 70s New York, in the South Bronx. It began at house…

The Foundation

8 Jan 2009

HIP HOP There’s been a distinct lack of hip hop clubs in Edinburgh since the golden age of the likes of Scratch and El Segundo. Hip hop itself, it seems, has been taken over by the world of bling, with mainstream hip hop becoming a weak R&B-heavy…

The Foundation

2 Oct 2008

HIP HOP Random Aspekts are Scotland’s pre-eminent breakdance outfit having in seven short years forged a path from keen enthusiasts to career dancers, learning a thing or two about what their art owes to its aural inspiration along the way. So after…

Sa-Choom

Sensory Korean overload

7 Aug 2008

They call it a dance musical but Sa-Choom is more like a happy assault vehicle. Big beats mix with big smiles in a rolling collision of breakdancing, martial arts, techno, hip hop and glossy pop. It’s all about feeling good, and with the verve and…

State of Matter

Breakdance/contemporary fusion hits the spot

7 Aug 2008

Following last year’s pattern of hip hop informed acrobatics, ragged yet stunning male ensemble dancing and spectacular solos, 2FaCeD DaNcE Company has tightened up its structure and enhanced the showmanship. It remains a forceful display of masculine…

Physical graffiti as The Wackness comes to Edinburgh International Film Festival

23 Jun 2008

Friday 20th June 2008 saw Festival Square, Edinburgh transformed into an enormous technicolor homage to graffiti, breakdancing and hip hop culture to mark the UK premiere of film The Wackness at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Planet B-Boy

16 Aug 2007

Breakdancing has come a long way in the 30 years since its rise alongside hip hop and graffiti in the housing projects of New York City. After enjoying a fleeting popularisation in music videos and kitsch movies of the mid-1980s, an international…

Lawrence Leung

16 Aug 2007

Australian comedian Lawrence Leung is under the impression that he isn’t cool. Granted he stands awkwardly on stage, an adorable grin spread across his face and displaying a beard only a maths teacher could sprout; yet there is something undeniably…

On Danse

9 Aug 2007

Sticking a video screen behind your choreography is all the rage these days, but few people do it as seamlessly as these guys. Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu from France has blended ballet, contemporary, African and breakdance with a stunning video…

Planet B-boy

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jul 2007

Think breakdancing died out in the 80s? Think again, says Mark Edmundson as he talks to Benson Lee, the writer-director of Planet B-boy which charts its epic resurgence