THE HIP HOP GAMES & BREAKING OLYMPIC WATCH PARTIES
Masaiya Thomas & GSB photographed by Paul Hampartsoumian at Breakin’ Convention 2024
This weekend Sadlers Wells & Breakin’ Convention kick off a series of events to celebrate the debut of Breaking at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The Hip Hop Games is a concept born in France in 2011 from dancer, choreographer and artistic director Romuald Brizolier and is the first concept that offers a hip hop dance improvisation game staged through various creative challenges. The Hip Hop Games has since toured internationally, bringing together dancers from across the world and gaining widespread recognition.
On Saturday 3 August from 12-7pm, eight east London dancers will compete across two teams in a hip hop dance improvisation game with a series of different creative challenges in a free event open to all. The line-up on Saturday 3 August includes Matthew 'Omni' Eudu, Nicolas Marvel, Lauren Scott and Paris Crossley who will form the popping crew. who will compete against the krump crew: Masaiya Thomas, Jordan 'Sapien' Douglas, Amanda 'Siren' Pefkou and Alicia 'Mafia' Cox. BBC 1Xtra will also present a range of DJs for this interactive event which sees audiences have their say on the winning team.
The Hip Hop Games form part of East Bank’s summer programme, bringing together East Bank’s cultural institutions, world leading universities and residents of east London, with music, dance, sport, art and more. East Bank is the UK’s newest cultural quarter at the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and is comprised of V&A East; Sadler’s Wells East; London College of Fashion, UAL; UCL East (University College London) and the new BBC Music Studios.
To continue marking Breaking’s debut in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Sadler’s Wells and Breakin’ Convention are inviting visitors to watch the Breaking Olympic finals at free live watching parties on Friday 9 & Saturday 10 August. The Breaking Olympic Watch Parties will take place at Riverside East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with DJs from BBC 1Xtra and will include panel talks with breakers involved in the Olympic qualifiers.
Breakin Convention Artistic Director Jonzi D Photographed by Belinda Lawley
Academy Breakin’ Convention are also running Summer Sessions for 14 - 17 year olds to learn the foundations of hip hop theatre for free from Monday 5 - Thursday 8 August at East London Dance. Across 4 high impact days, ABC will break down the basics of breaking, DJing, emceeing, graffiti, music production, popping and hip hop social dance, exploring these elements through a theatrical lens.
