Sadler's Wells - Breakin' Convention UK Tour 2023 - Birmingham Hippodrome 13th June 2023. 5***** David Gray and Paul Gray

From the moment we entered the new-ish Birmingham Hippodrome Square, with its wonderful rainbow colours in celebration of recent Birmingham Pride celebrations, we were met by a wealth of amazing, young - and the not-so-young - amateur and professional hip-hop-cum-body-popping dancers. They were all here to rejoice in the arrival of Jonzi D's astounding Breakin' Conventions on the group's 20th-anniversary tour.

Yes, can you believe it? This unique fusion of hip-hop, body-popping, funk, contemporary dance-cum-gymnastics, etc has now been an integral part of our cultural history for decades, to the point at which it is now a vital art form & a genre that rightly deserves to be regarded on an equal footing with other art forms - such as classical and contemporary ballet, and the such-like.

Upon entering the stalls bar of the Hippodrome proper, the dancing continued, with a fabulous, and very egalitarian, dance-off-style competition between eight or so young dancers. Sitting there by the side of what was a terrific pop-up dance floor, we marvelled at the astonishing abilities of these young people. Each dancer had their own personal take on the dance form; be it flipping onto a single arm or hand, spinning on their heads, to a remarkable young man whose gymnastic body-popping stole the crowd's hearts.

Similarly, in the interval, the pop-up stage was used as an "open stage" for anyone to show off their moves. And here we saw participants as young as 5 & 6, through to the early retired, strutting their stuff, and with all races, genders, and sexualities represented. What a wonderful celebration of diversity.

The show itself featured the acts and artists you can find details of at: www.breakinconvention.com/tour

The show and tour are curated and MC'd by the Host and Artistic Director of Breakin Convention, the irrepressible Jonzi D. My word, what a huge talent and vision Jonzi has. As people who are relatively new to his art form, we were totally swept away by the acts he presented, be it the mass production piece by the mostly young members of GFunk Collective; to the utterly mesmerizing solo piece called a contre-courant created on a single steel pole by Yvonne Smink from the Netherlands; or to the fantastic MOVER from South Korea, who simply oozed with utter joyousness and seeming total abandon: breathtaking.

This was an exhilarating night at the theatre. The collectives of dance groups who have their home at the Birmingham Hippodrome - including Birmingham Royal Ballet - and the tireless curatorship of Jonzi D from Breakin Convention - and so many others in his creative team - proved that collaboration, education, and dance have a vital role in the challenging society we find ourselves in in the UK in 2023.

Cast & Creatives can be found at the following link: www.breakinconvention.com/tour

David Gray & Paul Gray are Reviewers for Birmingham, West Midlands, and the Three Choirs Festival. If you would like David & Paul to come review for you, drop us a line at p.gray.20@abdn.ac.uk