As a result of changing Covid-19 restrictions this production has been cancelled
Sadler’s Wells and Breakin’ Convention will present the UK Premiere of Breakin’ Convention Presents: Compagnie Niya – Gueules Noires from Thursday 1 – Friday 2 July as part of Breakin’ Convention 2021, the world’s biggest festival of hip hop dance.
In Breakin’ Convention Presents: Compagnie Niya – Gueules Noires, choreographer Rachid Hedli pays a heartfelt tribute to the migrant workers of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, including his father. Retracing life in the mines, Cie Niya’s razor-sharp breaking and popping skills create evocative images of solidarity, struggle and fraternity. Hedli’s powerful and poetic staging is amplified by original music by Romual Houziaux.
Compagnie Niya is made up of sons and grandsons of the miners who inspired this piece. The company’s wish is to educate current and future generations about the migrants whose lives and stories are paramount to mining history.
Breakin Convention Artistic director Jonzi D says: “Technically proficient at breaking and popping, Compagnie Niya present visually poetic hip hop dance theatre. Choreographer Rachid Hedli is a compelling storyteller. Gueules Noires reflects film noire with sharp, shadowy scenes from the perspective of North African migrant miners in the north of France. Images of hanging clothes suggest a community of descendants descending down the mineshaft to their only source of income. The dancers athletic floor work conjuring composure and rhythm in claustrophobic conditions. Societal power dynamics are ominously at play. Musical collaborations fuse live handpan, violin and accordion, over atmospheric hip hop beats. Gueules Noires is a stunning piece of work that literally takes us underground!”
