Kamanda - Georges Momboye

Opening this Course with an extract from Kamanda qu’en penses-tu, a piece by the Ivory Coast choreographer Georges Momboye, might give the impression that hip-hop's roots are in African dance. But this would be a hasty and misleading shortcut. Originating in the black ghettos, hip-hop dance is just as much a product of American culture, forged in a social and cultural context specific to the United States during the 1970s. This extract nevertheless reminds us that millions of Africans were deported as slaves to American soil and today their descendants are part of the American nation. It also aims to evoke the initial basis of hip-hop's energy and dynamic: improvisation and challenge.

Bahia de todas as cores - Balé Folclórico de Bahia

The capoeristes of the Balé Folclórico de Bahia, , a Brazilian folk dance group, confront each other in a fight that is no more than a feint. Originally, capoeira, an expression of revolt against the Brazilian slave-owning society, allowed the slaves to train in combat while masking their martial art behind the appearance of a dance accompanied by music and songs. Here on stage, the dancers define the circular space – a roda – with leaps and acrobatic poses before moving on to the skilful game of attack and dodging. Circle, challenge, skill, all in rhythm: these are also the ingredients of hip-hop!

Interplay - Jazz Tap Ensemble

Before hip-hop, America had produced a style of music and dance which, in 1917, became known as “jazz”. In spite of the climate of racism and segregation which held sway between the white masters of European origin and their black slaves deported from Africa, the two communities observed each other and borrowed each other's rhythms and movements , giving rise to jazz dances. Among these was tap dance.

In Interplay, the two soloists of the Jazz Tap Ensemble compete with each other in skill, in line with the music. But when the band falls silent, this leaves the dancers totally free to improvise, who then go on to develop dazzling steps of increasing complexity.

Blue until June – Trey Mcintyre

Itself the fruit of crossover, jazz has always allowed other experiences to rub off on it. On Broadway, in the 1940s to 1960s, jazz dancers mingled with artists from the classical ballet and modern dance worlds. As a result of their exchanges, they created a new stage dance called Modern Jazz. Swaying hips, fluid torsos, isolation between the upper and lower body, between shoulder and head, are all characteristic of Modern Jazz. Traces of classical language, such as arabesques or rapid turns, can also be seen.

C'est ça la vie ?! – Pokemon Crew

When hip-hop dancers reached the theatre stage in the 1990s, they began drawing on other artistic styles to renew their own art. the main issue is to set the dance firmly at the heart of a coherent artistic intention. On the stage mat, the Pockemons' break dance reformulates itself into pas de deux and trios. It organises its contortionist and acrobatic innovations to work towards delivering a message, rendered legible by the addition of scenographic elements.

Boxe boxe – Mourad Merzouki

“Dance ‘with a message' is not for me,” claims Mourad Merzouki, on the other hand. The Käfig company's choreographer is nevertheless keen “to offer hip-hop in a variety of diverse aspects and free it from the shackles of its origins”, where, as he sees it, it has been confined for a long time. In this extract from Boxe boxe, the circular space becomes the arena where the dancer confronts his own anxieties in battle. The vocabulary of break dance borrows new outlines and thereby sets up a poignant dialogue with the ground. For the audience, it's a knock-out!

Books

CAPOEIRA, Nestor, CHEZE, Gilles (trad.). Le petit manuel de capoeira. Noisy-sur-Ecole : Budo-Les Editions, 2003. 1 vol. (286 p.) + 1 CD-ROM (18 min).

MOÏSE, Claudine, MOURRAT, Philippe (collab.). Danseurs du défi : rencontre avec le Hip Hop. Montpellier : Indigène, cop. 1999. 144 p. (Indigène esprit).

SEGUIN, Eliane. Histoire de la danse jazz. Paris : Chiron, cop. 2003. 281 p.


VERNAY, Marie-Christine. La danse Hip Hop. Paris : Gallimard jeunesse, cop. 1998. 47 p. (Carnets de danse).

Anne Décoret-Ahiha is an anthropologist of dance, doctor of Paris 8 University. Speaker, trainer and consultant, she develops proposals around dance as an educational resource and designs participatory processes mobilizing corporeality. She animates the "Warming up of the spectator" of the Maison de la Danse.