What is better than getting in the mood for breakdancing at the Olympics than watching breakdancing on stage at the Southbank Centre? Crazy Smooth In My Body is a show that celebrates dancers from all ages and genders who have come together to form an unlikely troupe – yet are aligned by their personal stories of survival, triumph and defeat that are emotional, uplifting and leave plenty of space for thought.
A crazy fun show
The nine dancers, from Canada are so full of energy and charisma, it is hard to believe that the oldest, DKC Freeze, is 60, and Tash, aged 50 is a grandmother! But the ethos of this slick show sets out to explore the difficulties around ageing in street dance – which is portrayed as a beautiful; art form by the old and the young.
Devised by dancer Yvon “Crazy Smooth” Soglo, founder and creative director of Bboyizm, the landmark Canadian street dance company, who, when he had his first knee surgery in his twenties, could bounce back into dancing. Yet after his fourth surgery, he could feel his body taking its toll, and he wanted to share this vulnerability with an audience who might not be acquainted with street dancing.
The high energy, and emotional performance by dancers across three generations, sets out to confront a taboo about the sub-culture that celebrates youth, athleticism, and bravado. The b-boys and girls present a façade of confidence and invincibility as they engage in battles to prove their worth and assert their dominance, against an original soundtrack by DJ Shash’U, and multimedia projections by Minari studio that map the body as the dancers commit “daily warfare” to their muscle and bone.
With personal stories compiled and narrated by spoken word poet Alejanrdo Rodriguez the audience can understand even more about the performers as they backflip, top rock and air flare their way across the stage which made the show even more powerful. Resulting in a seamless community that can’t interact or move without each other, it gives food for thought that we are all going to age, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Choreographers
Crazy Smooth and Saxon Fraser
Cast
Julie Benoît (Julie Rock), Jerick Collantes (Anyo), Jayson Collantes, David Dundas (DKC Freeze), Romain Gailhaguet (Bboy Vibz), Natasha Jean-Bart (Tash), Yvon Soglo (Crazy Smooth), Nubian Néné, Tiffany Leung, JC Fresh, and Montuu
Catch it while you can at the Southbank Centre.
