FESTIVAL DANCE | The Lock In
COOL AS FOLK
Mixing hip hop with traditional English folk dance, the Demon Barbers are on a mission to make clogging and morris dancing as cool as breakdance. Kelly Apter fi nds out how
T he Demon Barbers describe their show, The Lock In, as he Lock In, as xtravaganza’. ‘the UK’s No.1 folk and hip hop dance extravaganza’. he only folk While it seems a fairly safe bet that it’s the only folk fer, plaudits and hip hop dance extravaganza the UK has to offer, plaudits mix of live have not been thin on the ground for this unique mix of live music, English folk dance and hip hop.
ether when Set in a local pub after hours, the show came together when he Demon Damien Barber, founder of electric folk band the Demon a chance Barbers, and choreographer Bobak Walker had a chance meeting at a dance studio in Leeds. dancing to Barber and his band brought Morris and clog dancing to ary dance. the table, Walker brought hip hop and contemporary dance. ered these A short way into rehearsals, however, they discovered these seemingly disparate worlds were not so far apart.
m Morris ‘We stripped away the music and costumes from Morris losest to dancing, and looked at which moves were the closest to e put the our hip hop material,’ explains Walker. ‘Then we put the y similar two dances next to each other and they were really similar milarities in many ways. We knew there might be some similarities wo legs – obviously everyone has only got two arms and two legs her like – but actually seeing the two styles next to each other like that was a real crunch moment in the rehearsals.’
hen set Having worked out their commonalities, they then set of The about celebrating their differences. At the start of The s own, Lock In, each style gets a chance to shine on its own, come but as the show progresses, the two dance forms come lier. together and an already lively show gets even livelier. st folk All of which is backed up by one of the UK’s i nest folk Morris bands performing live, something the clog and Morris ncers, dancers are familiar with – less so the breakdancers, ats. who are all used to performing to pre-recorded beats. and ‘It’s completely normal for the folk dancers, and ans,’ they’ve all got a great relationship with the musicians,’ d to says Walker. ‘But as hip hop dancers, we’ve had to lt if learn about that. Which might have been difi cult if ause the Demon Barbers were very traditional, but because n to they’re a more modern rock / folk band, and open to ade trying new things and listening to our music, it made it a lot easier.’ ng Does Walker feel that he and Barber are helping ust people appreciate that English folk dance can be just es, as dynamic and exciting to watch as hip hop? ‘Yes, he that’s basically our mantra,’ says Walker. ‘One of the I reasons I’ve attached myself to this project is that I o think culturally it’s really important for people to w know about English folk dance. I didn’t really know d that there was a scene out there before this – and what little I did know was just from the media mak- ing fun of it. So it’s nice for us to have the two styles next to each other, and keep pushing that mantra.’
The Lock In, Zoo Southside, 662 6892, 4–16 Aug (not 13), 7.10pm, £12 (£10). Preview 3 Aug, £5. 56 THE LIST FESTIVAL 1–8 Aug 2013