Hip-hop theater is a form of theater that presents contemporary stories through the use of one or more of the four elements of hip-hop culture—

b-boying Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

writing, MCing (rapping), and

DJing A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

. Other cultural markers of hip-hop such as

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

, and

hip-hop dance Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in ...

can be included as well although they are not always present. What is most important is the language of the theatrical piece and the plot's relevance to the world. Danny Hoch, founder of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, further defines it as such: "Hip-hop theatre must fit into the realm of theatrical performance, and it must be ''by, about and for'' the hip-hop generation, participants in hip-hop culture, or both." Hip-hop theater productions appear in a wide range of platforms including single performances, week-long festivals, and traveling

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

companies. Board Chair Of the historic Philadelphia Freedom Theater and producing Director Of The Devon Theater Of Mayfair Karl Dice Raw Jenkins is the leader in hiphop theater with multiple of Grammy nominations as a singer producer and Playwright, The Last Jimmy [The kümmel, Freedom Theater, Adrienne Arsht & La Grand performances have all presented Karl. Karl's other works include Box A Hiphop Musical telling the life of enslaved African American Henry Box Brown. The King Of Love and more. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken word poet and dancer who has been commissioned several times to create and direct single hip-hop theater works. British people, British choreographer Jonzi D is the artistic director of the London-based Breakin' Convention, a week long hip-hop theater festival.

Rennie Harris Lorenzo Harris (born January 28, 1964) is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and professor of hip-hop dance. Harris formed the first and longest running hip-hop dance touring company, Rennie Harris Puremovement in 1992. In 2007, he conceiv ...

, Mourad Merzouki, Kwesi Johnson and Victor Quijada are artistic directors who run hip-hop theater companies in the U.S., France, UK and Canada respectively. The Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians pioneered this theatrical genre which started in the United States.

History

Though hip-hop culture has managed to establish itself on film, on television, in fashion, in music, and in the dance industry, it has not gained the same momentum in theater. Stage productions are few in number but growing. The first hip-hop stage shows were 1990's. 1994 Saw Kwesi Johnson's 'Searching for a Shaman' premier on 20th April at Nott Dance Festival, off Broadway musical ''So! What Happens Now?'' , 1995's ''Jam on the Groove'' which were co-authored, co-directed, and co-choreographed by Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon and Steffan " Mr. Wiggles" Clemente.

Rock Steady Crew Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song " (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" (from the group's first studio album ...

, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians performed in both shows. Aside from the pioneers in New York City was Lorenzo "Rennie" Harris' Puremovement (RHPM) hip-hop theater company which Harris founded in 1992 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. The company has toured all over the world showcasing its original works such as ''March of the Antmen'', ''P-Funk'', ''Endangered Species'', ''Facing Mekka'', and ''Rome & Jewels''. RHPM also organizes the annual Illadelph Legends Festival which brings together the pioneers—the people who were

, locking, and

popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance) cultural movement in Oakland, California. As Boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as Robottin in Richmond, California, Strutting movements in San Francisco and San J ...

in the 1970s when these styles were developed—and respected practitioners of hip-hop dance to teach master classes, give lecture demonstrations, and participate in panel discussions. Hip hop music continues to influence

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. Rap is used popular musicals such as ''

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'' and ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

'' While more notable for funk than hip hop, the Broadway musical '' Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk'' fuses

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...

and hip hop dance styles, and includes rap. Hip hop music was used in Off Broadway shows in the 1990s and early 2000s, with the musicals ''So! What Happens Now?'' and ''Jam on the Groove''. ''

In the Heights ''In the Heights'' is a musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican American neighborhood of ...

'' used hip hop music, rapping and hip hop dancing. With music and lyrics by Lin Manuel Miranda and book by

Quiara Alegría Hudes Quiara Alegría Hudes (born 1977) is an American playwright, producer, lyricist and essayist. She is best known for writing the book for the musical ''In the Heights,'' and screenplay for its film adaptation. Hudes' first play in her ''Elliot Tri ...

, it was performed off Broadway in 2007. The 2008 Broadway production fused salsa and hip hop styles, and included rap. Miranda brought hip hop to Richard Rodgers Theater a second time in 2015 with his production ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

''. The show had box office success. ''Hamilton'' and ''In the Heights'' included rap and the cast recording of ''Hamilton'' made a number one album on the Billboard rap charts. The success of ''Hamilton'' shows that hip hop can have a key role in musical theater.

Repertory companies

Other hip-hop theater companies were founded in the 1990s. Compagnie Käfig is a French hip-hop theater company of mostly

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n descent founded in 1995 by Mourad Merzouki. Their performances mix standard

, locking, and

with

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th cent ...

, mime, and gymnastics. They use the same fusion in music by mixing rap music with classical music and Andalusian guitar. While on tour in the U.S. they performed at

Jacob's Pillow Jacob's Pillow is a dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The organization is known for a Summer dance festival. The facility also includes a professional school and extensive archives a ...

in Massachusetts and at the

Joyce Theater The Joyce Theater (“The Joyce") is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The building opened in 1941 as the Elgin Theater, a movie house, and was gut-renovated and reconfigured in 1981-82 to re ...

in New York. Bintou Dembélé performed at the Joyce Theater in New York with Mourad Merzouki's Compagnie Käfig in 2002. That same year she created her own dance company, which she describes as being mainly inspired by Pina Bausch's notion of 'danced theater'. The Groovaloos are a hip-hop theater company based in Los Angeles that was founded by Bradley "Shooz" Rapier. They started out in 1999 as a dance crew and eventually developed a stage show called ''Groovaloo'' that is a series of stories based on the true life experiences of the dancers. Company members include Edmundo "Poe One" Loayza, Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio from

JabbaWockeeZ The Jabbawockeez is an American hip-hop dance crew that rose to prominence as the winner of the first season of America's Best Dance Crew in 2008. Established in 2003 in San Diego, California when dancers Kevin "KB" Brewer and Joe Larot pu ...

, and Teresa "Rag Doll" Espinosa from

Beat Freaks Beat Freaks is an all-female breaking dance crew from Los Angeles, California. Each of its ten members have achieved individual success dancing before taking part of the group, which was created in 2003. The Beat Freaks were featured on MTV' ...

. RUBBERBANDance Group (RBDG) was founded in 2002 in

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by Los Angeles native Victor Quijada. Quijada first started dancing as a b-boy in

Baldwin Park, California Baldwin Park is a city located in the central San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,176, down from 75,390 at the 2010 census. History Baldwin Park began as ...

. He studied

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

in high school and after graduating went on to become a professional dancer under

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. He started RBDG after leaving the Montreal ballet. ''

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'' called the style of dance his company performs "post hip-hop" because it's a fusion of hip-hop dance and ballet.

Independent performances

Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken word poet and playwright who frequently directs independent hip-hop theater productions. Some of his works include ''Word Becomes Flesh'', ''De/Cipher'', and ''No Man's Land''. He collaborated with Rennie Harris in 2007 to create ''Scourge'', a play about Haiti's social-economic struggles. Joseph directed the play while Harris served as the choreographer. In 2008, he created ''the break/s'' which is based on the book '' Can't Stop Won't Stop'' by Jeff Chang. Other solo hip-hop theater artists include Sarah Jones who headlined the first Hip-Hop Theater Festival and award-winning playwright Will "Power" Wylie who collaborated with Danny Hock on his one-man play ''Flow''. Also, West Coast feminist writer/performer Aya de Leon whose award-winning show "Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop" focused on fighting sexism and consumerism in hip hop.

Festivals

*Rencontres de la Villette is a two-week hip-hop theater festival started in France in 1996. Unlike the other theater companies mentioned, Recontres de la Villette was started with the help of government

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

from the Ministry of Culture to promote

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

. *Hip-Hop Theater Festival was founded in 2000 in New York by playwright and actor

Danny Hoch Daniel Hoch (born November 23, 1970) is an American actor, writer, director and performance artist. He has acted in larger roles in independent and art house movies and had a few small roles in mainstream Hollywood films, with increasing exp ...

. The week-long festival starts in Washington, D.C. and tours annually to New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. * Breakin' Convention was started in 2004 by playwright and dancer Jonzi D and is housed annually at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. Every year starts off with a three-day festival in London. After the London festival, the convention tours to other cities in the United Kingdom. * Hip Hop goes Theatre is a theater festival that was started in 2008 by dancers Alexander Wengler and Sergej Pumper in Salzburg, Austria.

References

External links

Will Power, Telling Stories through 'Hip Hop Theatre'
podcast at

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