Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

Bringing together hip hop and breakdance with contemporary dance? Brazilian dancer Bruno Beltrão does it successfully, as illustrated by the standing ovations and rave reviews he received after the premiere of H3 at the 2008 Kunstenfestivaldesarts. Beltrão works with nine boys he found on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. But he doesn’t simply transfer their street dance antics to the stage, he deconstructs the clichés of contemporary as well as established styles and creates a unique, crossover movement style that churns like “blood pumping wildly through your veins” (De Standaard). In their timid search for contact with each other and their own place in the group, the dancers perform their moves meticulously, despite their apparent vigour. H3 compresses virility and subtlety in an impressive and gripping choreography.