Branding the opening programme of Breakin' Convention as Hip Hop Horror Night turned out to raise more expectations than the vaguely spooky styles of its assorted items actually delivered. Hip-hop certainly has a natural affinity with horror, given how many of its moves verge on the freakish. The boneless robotic glide of west coast funk can emanate a Night of the Living Dead creepiness and the swivelling, skittering, insectoid stunts perfected by b-boy crews can transform any dancer into an alien.
But if hip-hop has the moves, it's so far produced only a few artists capable of framing them in convincing theatrical contexts. Style Elements - a top name crew from America - promised their 40-minute production The Ring had been inspired by Japan's notorious scary movie. However, apart from some blatantly derivative background footage (all jerky black and white nightmare scenes) the material turned out to be a lazily disconnected assortment of skits and routines. With the exception of a blankly grinning clockwork "clown" dancer - who jerked and dangled with x-rated menace - this uneventful melange had almost nothing to do with horror, let alone The Ring.
Its mediocrity underlined the virtues of the main item Bad Moves, by French crew Wanted Posse. Admittedly, the plot driving this 55-minute work was no more than a batsqueak of an idea: a sci-fi battle so vaguely staged you couldn't work out who'd conquered whom. But the choreography made up for it. These world champion dancers rang astounding changes around familiar stunts - aerodynamic spins performed in surreally slow motion and in anatomically impossible positions, rocking footwork with a tap dancer's lightness and speed. Best of all was the skill with which choreographer Tangale Goy had elaborated the moves into juicy dance imagery, the sophistication with which he'd patterned his phrases to spark with rhythmic life. Wanted Posse may sound like they hang out on a street corner - but their place is very definitely the stage.
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