The Dance Exchange

Running order:

1pm – 2pm: hip-hop workshop with Natasha ‘Tash’ Jean-Bart Bboyizm core dancer Tash leads an introductory hip-hop style dance workshop. Suitable for all levels of ability and experience.

2.30pm – 3.30pm: hustle workshop with Crazy Smooth
The founder and Artistic Director of Bboyizm leads an introductory hustle workshop. Suitable for all levels of ability and experience.

After each workshop DJ SPINADA is on the decks so you have a chance to put your new moves into practice.

4pm – 4.15pm: performance showcase
Sadler’s Wells Company of Elders and ZooNation Youth Company present an extract of their collaborative work The Exchange, which explores stories of our past, present and future selves through dance styles influenced by hip-hop culture.

4.30pm – 5pm: all-style exhibition battle 4 vs 4
Experience a showcase dance battle of different dance styles from mid-generation vs next generation dancers. Battlers include Infante, Paola, and Mechanikool.

5pm – 6pm: social jam
Enjoy tunes from DJ SPINADA and show us your own moves as the terrace becomes a dance floor for everyone to enjoy.

Artists:
East London-born and raised, and member of Rain Crew UK, Haseeb ‘Chilly’ Hearn specialises in breakin and experimental hip-hop. Dance is his tool to travel and connect with people around the world, competing and teaching.

Natasha ‘Tash’ Jean-Bart’s career spans over thirty-seven years in the performing arts. She’s a BIPOC artist, writer, dancer, choreographer, teacher, and intergenerational street dance/hip-hop connector and consultant. Her expertise has garnered her numerous international positions as a juror for elite dance competitions and she gives workshops and lectures internationally. In addition, she uses her voice to assist and inspire artists from all walks of life to find their purpose.

Crazy Smooth is one of Canada’s top street dance ambassadors, as well as a choreographer, dancer, sought after instructor, judge, and community leader. He is the founder and artistic director of Bboyizm, an award-winning dance company that has been instrumental in the preservation and proliferation of street dance in Canada and abroad. Founded in 2004, the company has successfully brought authentic street dance choreography into the professional theatre setting and four of his full-length creations have toured throughout Canada.

Company of Elders is Sadler’s Wells’ resident dance company for non-professional dancers aged 60+ from the local community. Each year since its establishment in 1989, the company commissions a renowned choreographer to make a new work for public performance, raising interest in dance for older people in the UK and abroad while also celebrating the unique contribution older adults make to our shared cultural landscape. Company of Elders dancers aspire to share the joy of lifelong creativity through their performances and encourage others by demonstrating that it’s never too late to start something new.

ZooNation Youth Company was founded in 2006 and comprises some of the best young performers in the UK. As well as performing as part of the cast of West End show Into the Hoods, ZooNation Youth Company has performed in the Channel 4/BAFTA short film The Holloway Launderette (Channel 4/BAFTA/Big Dance), Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Celebrations (worldwide broadcast) and BBC’s Blue Peter to name but a few. They have performed as guests at the Dance Proms, at the Royal Albert Hall and at Fresh at The Place.

Showcase battle participants:
Infante is a NW London B-boy representing his crew GullyLDN in battles on a worldwide scale. On top of being in the competitive circuit, Infante aims to create new opportunities and support the learning of aspiring individuals through his breaking company, Break Force, giving direction and accessibility to the world of breaking.

Mechanikool has been an active participant of the streetdance community for 25 years. He specialises in popping, boogaloo, animation and waving styles. Mechanikool is currently one of the longest standing active competitors in the UK.

Paola Quintana, originally from the Canary Islands, Spain, is a professional dancer and stunt woman, and a graduate from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Nowadays, she shares her passion of waacking dance by participating at numerous dance battles across Europe. Lately, she was one of the RedBull Dance Your Style finalists in Spain, representing waacking. She is also the creator of the Waacking Nation Program developed in London.