Who knew, back in the 1970s, that hip-hop would survive long enough to start counting its generations? The opening night of Breakin' Convention saw the seminal LA crew Electric Boogaloos paying tribute to their founding member, Skeeter Rabbit, who died last year. It also saw the London debut of 12-year-old Baby Flex, a hyper-bendy prodigy, whose extreme gymnastics recently took her to the finals of the World Hip-Hop Championships.
Time has wrought still more unexpected changes. Baby Flex was not the only cute girl to face off the b-boys. The all-girl Rapture Crew from Northern Ireland bounced though one of the tightest, toughest little routines I have seen. French soloist Emilie Sudre broke every convention by coming on stage in evening dress and stilettos, slowly stripping herself down to her knickers in a routine of languorous break poses and elegantly reconfigured spins: the new hip-hop burlesque.
As compere Jonzi D repeatedly reminds us, hip-hop is everywhere and more than ready to assume the serious stage. However, the first very mixed set of acts also reveals that most need some basic lessons in theatre. Dance 2XS's toyshop drama was a grim self-indulgence, with crude choreographic cliches dressed up in gaudy costumes and funfair mime. Moving Shadows, who earnestly aimed to dramatise the history of the human soul, could have headed for worse disaster - thrillingly, however, their choreography turned out to be as superb as their scenario was gauche. Tall, wired and graceful, this Austrian crew used the disjointed, cartoonish energy of hip-hop to transform themselves into an eerie variety of forms - from flickering cosmic matter to an apocalyptic battle of human tanks and guns.
