Urban Dance Theatre - Into the Hoods

Tonight I went to the coolest show - it was like 'so you think you can dance' but without all the lame voting stuff. It was called 'Into the Hoods' put on by a dance company called Zoonation and was basically urban street dance theatre performing fairy tales of cinderella, rapunzel and little red riding hood through movie clips, dj spun music, and wicked dance fusion moves (hip hop, breakdancing flips and freezes, some contemporary, disco and even swing!). For instance, one minute the dancers were lindyhopping, the next they were crumping, then clowning, then popping, then body-locking, then doing acrobatic flips across the stage, then some physical theatre. It was a show that has played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (aka Tattoo) for two years running before it came to London. It was a buzzy, vibrant and mostly hilarious show that kept Astrid and I thoroughly entertained all throughout and has most likely widened the appeal of hip hop by bringing the style of dance to the stage. At the end everyone was standing and dancing to praise the dancers.

Observation: We were sitting next to a crusty elderly couple who said they expected live music like 'steel bands' instead of canned music, and that it wasn't professional enough for a commercial production. I told him he came to the wrong show, because this was all about the dj spinning and the dancing! He also decided that he would leave his haagen daz rubbish in the middle of the floor in front of us, in the front row! Astrid pointed out to him that its very rude as the dancers may trip on it, but he didn't seem to care. Inconsiderate dirty old loser...nuff said!