Hip-hop show keeps it real

Keith Watson|Metro10 April 2012

There's an innate contradiction in putting street dance on stage. Moves that are meant to spring from spontaneity look curiously contrived.

No such worries with Philadelphia's Rennie Harris and Puremovement. This isn't hip hop played for showbiz, this is the real deal.

Though it's at its best in call and response dance numbers that allow Harris's all-male company to let gymnastic rip, the show would be a hollow trip if it was all bounce and no brain.

So Harris duly slows the pace with a couple of moody reflections on black culture and inner-city strife.

Yet though the likes of Endangered Species and March Of The Antmen are clearly heartfelt, deep philosophy is not Harris's strong suit - the cross he has to bear is that his dancers are so dynamic in the upbeat numbers that all else suffers by comparison.

The joyous burst of unbridled athleticism of the closing title piece, a riotous reinvention of breakdancing, bodypopping and unfeasibly flying feet, is the strongest political statement Harris could possibly make.

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