Dance Around The World sees three of the most talented European dancers take on a global quest to find the beating heart and cultural roots of indigenous street dance. Londoner Suzette has danced with Missy Elliot, and is now an esteemed choreographer working with Dua Lipa and even Mick Jagger to name just a few; Kym Jay boasts a CV dancing with the likes of Madonna and for Nike’s global campaigns; and Maren from Holland has made her name as one of the most intimidating b-girl forces on the competition circuit.
Maren, Suzette, and Kym Jay may have performed in street dance battles across the world but this series takes them far beyond their comfort zone. From the townships of South Africa, to the favelas of Brazil and to New York’s The Bronx, the dancers seek out dancing communities who’ve inspired this art form through the ages, discovering the roots of each local dance culture and meeting the locals who’ve used their own personal histories to transform the legacy of tribal moves into urban flows.
The dancers will see life through the eyes of those they dance with: where poverty and political repression is the norm, where dance has been driven underground for being too ‘anarchic, liberated, controversial’, and where the legacy of slavery and oppression still casts a shadow over everyday life.
To honour the stories they hear, the dancers will learn the moves they witness, and pay tribute to each culture by choreographing and performing a routine to an audience of the people they’ve met.