Bruno Beltrão, celebrated Brazilian choreographer brings his new work to London.

It’s hip hop but not as you expect! Beltrão has revolutionized the genre, deconstructing the dance form as he grapples with the changing politics of his native Brazil. Expect high jumps, head spins, somersaults, fast kicks and twirling twists. His intense choreography with Grupo de Rua is characterized by physical urgency and an analytic understanding of music and space.

Responding to the radical shift to the right, he ponders what happens when a political scene creates disharmony, polarises the people and limits freedom and equality. The artistic community provides glimmers of creative resistance and uses art to drive change.

His previous work “Inoah”, was an eye-popping, jaw-dropping, gravity-defying blitz of artistic brilliance. He combines sophisticated stage craft with contemporary dance and raw hip-hop which casts a spell over audiences worldwide.

Read the freesheet.

[Image description] Two black dancers in a calligraphic balance: on the left, in red trousers and vest, one dancer forms a T-shape, a leg pushing out at shoulder-height, foot flexed, head pressing against the back of a taller dancer in long white tunic and trousers, who leans back at a diagonal, supported on one toe, knee bent towards the floor, the other leg kicking out high to the side.

A production Grupo de Rua (Niterói – BR) in collaboration with Something Great (Berlin – DE) co-produced by Künstlerhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt – DE), Festival d’Automne à Paris (Paris – FR), Kampnagel (Hamburg – DE), Sadler Wells (London – UK), KunstenfestivaldesArts (Brussels – BE), SPRING Festival (Utrecht – NL), Wiener Festwochen (Vienna – AT), Onassis STEGI (Athens – GR), Culturgest (Lisbon – PT), Teatro Municipal do Porto (Porto -PT), Le Maillon (Strasbourg – FR) , Arsenal Metz (Metz – FR), Romaeuropa (Rome – IT), Charleroi Danse (Charleroi) Commissioned by the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm within the framework of the German Alliance of International Production Houses.

Header image © Wonge Bergmann