IT’S USUALLY dancing, with a bit more dancing topped with off with, well, you’ve probably guessed it, some more dancing.

Any black person will tell you that the relationships between us and the police has always been that of violence and terror and there has been many a public protestation of these things and nobody has ever come to justice in these murders pretty much

Jonzi D

But this year there’s a twist.

Breakin’ Convention Social DisDancing is back for the festive season – but due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions around social distancing, there will only be seats for those who grab their tickets quickly.

Taking place at Sadler’s Wells on December 11 and 12, Lifestyle caught up with Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and Breakin’ Convention founder, Jonzi D ahead of the show to find out what hip-hop theatre fans can expect.

“I’m just hoping that we’re going to be ‘blam’, everyone can come out of their house now they don’t need to worry about what kind of laws we have to submit to at that time,” Jonzi D enthused when asked if he was worried about the event not taking place.

He added: “I just hope they don’t extend the lockdown because Breakin’
Convention is happening mate. Even if we have to dance outside the theatre ourselves that day.”

Over two days, this influential international festival of hip-hop dance theatre presents an action-packed show, featuring three dynamic hip hop dance crews from across the UK.

The line-up features AIM, the explosive all-female popping crew, presenting Suspended, a new work exploring the experience of losing the ground be-
neath your feet, then finding the resilience to anchor once again.#

Birmingham-based O’Driscoll Collective premieres a powerful duet titled One%, looking at duality, the mind and the importance of mental health awareness.

Using the style of breakin’, the work responds to society today and misunderstood emotions. Perennial Breakin’ Convention stalwarts and East London friends, the mighty Boy Blue, complete the bill with an exciting new production.

“AIM have been representing powerful female popping for a while now,” Jonzi D said.

He added: “The first time they did Breakin’ Convention, which is a couple of years ago now, their performance was beautiful.

“Their work is very tight and it’s just a beautiful collaboration that they come with. We also have a duet from Birmingham, O’Driscoll Collective.

“I know them personally and we were meant to organise an event this year in Birmingham but the tour got cancelled.

“So it’s a real pleasure to bring this duet here, that’s about as international as we are getting though.

“Usually we have acts from across the world but we had to limit that a little bit.

TWIST

“We’ve also got Boy Blue, regular Breakin’ Convention favourites and I am happy to say that Kenrick Sandy, who just recently won a few high profile awards, is going from strength to strength and it’s a pleasure to have him still committed to Breakin’ Convention since the very beginning.”

The twist at this year’s event however revolves around a very personal project which wasn’t inspired by the greatest of circumstances but something Jonzi D says he felt compelled to bring to the big screen.”

“I’m also happy to say that a film I directed, called Our Bodies Back, will also be a part of the programme. Even though you can see it online there’s nothing like this big screen at Sadler’s Wells.

“It’s a piece that was really influenced by the experiences of what happened over the summer.

“I guess for a lot of black people a lot came up for us during that time period, just seeing some of what we did and the fact is, we’ve been seeing that, it’s not new.

“Any black person will tell you that the relationships between us and the police has always been that of violence and terror and there has been many a public protestation of these things and nobody has ever come to justice in these murders pretty much.

“To have something so high profile happen when everyone was in their house on lockdown, I think it was a very pertinent time. I felt really empowered to make this piece of work.”

Watch the full interview with Jonzi D online now: Find out more about Breakin’ Convention, how the artist has dealt with lockdown and his inspiration for ‘Our Bodies Back’.

https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2020/breakin-convention-social-disdancing/