Body popping in a contemporary context

Body popping in a contemporary context

Helly Minarti, Contributor, Jakarta

Another dance programme is on offer at Art Summit Indonesia 2004: Urban Classicism, a British dance company by Robert Hylton.

The company will perform at Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Central Jakarta, on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 at 8 p.m.

Embracing both street dance culture and contemporary traditions, Hylton has taken inspiration for his movement from hip-hop culture -- body popping bred on the street -- as well as contemporary techniques, together with their theatrical vocabulary and conception.

Hylton first joined Bamboozle, a street jazz crew based at Newcastle's Dance City and performed in Dance Umbrella 1990, the UK's prestigious annual dance festival at Sadler Well's, London.

He then studied at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, before founding his own group, Urban Classicism.

For Jakarta, he would like to present three different numbers; the first is titled Verse, a 15-minute solo, a work in progress, meant to be the first part of the longer Verses, a dance concert of five dancers scheduled to premiere in 2005.

Company DJ/producer Billy Biznizz sets the pace with his hip- hop beats, hard rock guitar riffs and vocal harmonies, to which Hylton will respond with his movement improvisation.

Both performers then try to reinvent their separate forms of music and movement whilst pushing the boundaries and defining possibilities of hip-hop-based culture.

Landscapes will be second, a 30-minute piece for two male dancers and a female. Intersecting with a visual design created by AllofUs group, this choreography illuminates the more prevalent word-body relationship -- two elements that seem to cross each other's boundaries, merging and colliding in the advanced civilization of mankind.

It is a satirical commentary on the future we are shaping today, a palpable hope of a more peaceful world.

Last is 2 Steps, based on Hylton's improvisation with DJ Billy Biznizz music, his collaborator. Bizzniz mix takes the material from the monologue of American comedian Bill Cosby.

What does Hylton's Urban Classicism suggest? Is hip-hop/body popping/street dance culture a classical form from the British urban scene?

Or, will it be just another merging of subculture and art, which tends to merely touch the surface of style, but never really goes deeper to the substance?