Edinburgh performance company Room 2 Manoeuvre set off on a national tour of Scotland with City Breakz: a dance based commentary on space, place and identity. Taking in Dumfries and Kirkcudbright on the Friday 13 and Saturday 14 August.
Created by Room 2 Manoeuvre led by Artistic Director Tony Mills and in collaboration with the dancers, the show’s bold and striking juxtaposition of dance and environment asks, where and how do we make room for art and culture to exist, to inspire and to be accessible in a changing city landscape? The City Breakz dancers re-imagine city spaces, change the perception of urban environments and bring dance closer to communities.
City Breakz is an outdoor hip hop dance show featuring four dancers that takes the classic scenario of the hip hop throw down and re-positions it in unusual city locations and common urban structures. Anything can become a dancefloor – a bench, a set of steps, part of a wall – as the dancers negotiate the challenges of uneven surfaces, angles and gradients of cities and towns across the country.
Each performer armed with a patch of linoleum and a sound system – will spring up in unexpected locations for a series of solo roaming performances before coming together at a central outdoor location for one big performance.
Blending hip hop, physical theatre and contemporary dance, backed by music and sound design from The Reverse Engineer (AKA Dave House), City Breakz will seek to bring the true spirit of hip hop to audiences across the country in a wholly unique performance, providing some of the year’s first live entertainment experiences in a relaxed outdoor environment.
On bringing City Breakz to audiences, Tony Mills said: “I consider hip hop to be an original form of site-specific dance that responds to place and society. I myself have gone through those times of carrying my lino and boombox around the town trying to find somewhere to dance. I found spaces, buildings or venues where I and others were given room and encouragement to do our thing. But many of those spaces closed or were transformed. City Breakz is about that journey of trying to find those spaces in your home town where you fit in, where you can develop a sense of belonging and carve out your identity.
“In the rapid urbanisation of towns and cities it feels almost as if culture is being squeezed out to the periphery. So, I want to bring it back to the concrete streets, using an image that, beneath the surface, reveals something inherently important to all of us.”
City Breakz comes to Dumfries on Friday 13 August and Kirkcudbright on Saturday 14 August. For more details visit www.dgartsfestival.co.uk
Room 2 Manoeuvre is funded by Creative Scotland Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance and supported by: The Workroom, Merchant City Festival, The Brunton, Summerhall and Tramway Residency Programme.
