Swing Riots!

One of the most exciting elements in our contemporary dance culture is the fusion of techniques. Modern choreographers create pieces with traditionally trained ballet dancers, modern dancers collaborate with hip hop artists, and so forth. Most predominate choreographers or companies of our time pull influence from a variety of genres and meld dance techniques into a movement vocabulary of their own - as discussed in an earlier post. The possibilities are endless and the results are inspiring. 

Taking it a step further, The Montreal Swing Riots have caught my attention and pure excitement as they do just this in an unplanned and improvised setting. Swing, hip hop, funk, lindy hop, and more fuse seamlessly as we watch dancers from seemingly divergent dance styles meld movement, rhythm, and general swagger. As you watch, look for the way each dancer changes the musical cues they mimic depending on the style of dance per Round, the way they transition from a dropped weight aesthetic to lifted, and their general ability to crescendo their segment within the battle. 

I believe this is a must watch and is by far one of the more fascinating and exciting dance performances/battles I've seen in a while. The dance is fantastic, the energy is high, and the fusion of techniques is an electrified representation of where the world of dance is currently situated. We're in on big mash up and we wouldn't have it any other way.