★★★★☆
Genre-defying hip-hop dance theatre company Boy Blue kicks off their international tour of Cycles at Aviva Studios, bringing their high-energy dance theatre show to Manchester audiences for one weekend only.
Cycles premiered at the Barbican in London in 2024, ahead of its 2024 international tour.
Founded by choreographer Kenrick “H2O” Sandy and composer Michael “Mikey J” Asante, Boy Blue are the UK’s biggest hip-hop dance theatre company, and established the genre since the pair started the company in 2007 together.
Boy Blue return to Aviva Studios this weekend, having brought their acclaimed show Free Your Mind to the space in 2023, making it interesting to see how they would approach the same venue again. This time, rather than an immersive experience around the venue, including the colossal Warehouse, they take the stage in the more traditional theatre space at Aviva Studios, the Hall (where the first act of Free Your Mind was performed).
The two works, however, are entirely different—while Free Your Mind was an explosive exploration of the future, featuring a large cast, elaborate set, and numerous costumes, Cycles (concept and composition Asante) is far more stripped back, honing in on Sandy’s choreography (associate choreography by Jade Hackett) and a small ensemble of just nine dancers (Jimmy Allan, Nicey Belgrave, Tanaka Bingwa, Gabija Čepelytė, Paris Crossley, Evion Hackett, Kyron ‘Nykro’ Jake, Kelsey ‘Hydro’ Miller, and Corey Owens). Beginning and ending with a female dancer running in slow motion around a spotlight, this movement becomes the throughline of the piece—reappearing as a kind of representation of life without/before dance.
The dancers (donning funky streetwear by Michael Josephs) come together, brought to life as they step into the circle, gaining energy and movement in the light (Lee Curran). But the circle retracts, becoming smaller, perhaps questioning the hip-hop scene itself—is there enough limelight to go around?
Sandy plays with comedy and freestyle effortlessly; the piece is as self-aware as it is dedicated to representing the complexities and established motifs of early American hip-hop. The dancers aren’t playing characters or part of a certain narrative, they jump in and out of the flow, sometimes falling back to the sidelines to sit, drink, catch their breaths.
Cycles takes its course with no explicit narrative—Boy Blue focuses on movement, choreography, and feeling. The work is explosive and intense, with the majority of the runtime the cast spend dancing at full potency and speed. Intensity was high the entire show—a testament to the dancers’ stamina and precision—but more variation would have helped, allowing the audience to catch up rather than becoming a tad dulled to the relentless pace. More space could have been allowed for us to catch up and stay fully exhilarated by the power of Cycles felt in the first quarter.
In a recent interview with Factory International, Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy describes wanting to achieve “The Three E’s: Education, Entertainment, and Enlightenment.” This sentiment speaks to the accessibility of the piece. Although the audience at Aviva Studios was packed with hip-hop dancers and Boy Blue fans, anyone, no matter their age or level of knowledge of hip-hop or theatre, would enjoy Cycles and be thoroughly entertained. This is unique in an era of waning theatre audiences and a feeling of inaccessibility within the theatre, especially outside of the big-name high-street musicals—Cycles is a rich but digestible work that can engage all audiences.
Cycles runs at Aviva Studios (The Hall) until March 22.
Photo: Camilla Greenwell
JADAR 