It was entertaining. Although my biggest problem was working out why the various acts before us were "breakdancing" as opposed to just modern dance.
First up were Buckness Personified - a largely female group who did fit into the category of breakdancing. The only obvious way you could tell they were female were that they couldn't do a lot of the more impressive moves we would see later.
Lloyd's Company (not sponsored by the Bank but modestly named by the choreographer after himself) were from Holland. This might generously be described as experimental. More a waste of ability, and so arty it was up its own backside. The two performers did a number of slow breakdance manoeuvres as set pieces really. But did away with music for most of it, and the two rarely interracted on stage. In practice they did away with almost everything that might have entertained, music, energy, visual impact.
Saran Kohli & Co were the opposite. They used every opportunity to entertain, from the music (opening with that traditional hip hop anthem, Bohemian Rhapsody), the clothes, humour, a film clip. Unlike the previous act, they didn't take themselves too seriously, with the result that they were seriously watchable. Saran Kholi is Indian and also a fashion stylist (hence the posh threads). Cool.
Boy Blue Entertainment were less a dance group, more a social project. By far the largest crew on stage and with a vast age range from small kids to adults, this was a mix of hip hop and martial arts. All that was missing was Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas coming on as background music. Too long and too many of them cluttering up the stage.
A film clip put together by a group of youngsters inside a week was impressive in the time it had taken to put together, but if it was a clip on YouTube you wouldn't have bothered watching it to the end. That completed the first half. Fortified with a couple of beers, we returned for the second.
Of course one leaves the best until last and so after the interval the performances improved. First up was a French girl, Antoinette Gomis and she was very impressive - quite mesmerising really. But didn't seem to me particularly breakdance rather than modern dance, although Thibault said the leg movements were recognisably breakdance, so I will take his word for it. Very good though, whatever category one might choose to apply.
Protcol Dance Company were British and very disappointing. I say that because they were obviously talented dancers who could have done much more physically. But instead they were very arty farty. Which was partially explained by the fact that two of them, unlike any other act, were interviewed afterwards. They (one white, one black) were extremely articulate, posh and mentioned they were both with the RSC. So keep the acting for the drama workshops boys, and stick to dancing at Sadler's Wells. They could have been, should have been, so much better.
Flockey was a second solo artist, this time a bloke from Germany. In many ways he just looked the most natural dancer of all on stage. Good, but was it really breakdance?
And then the evening finished with a Dutch ensemble The Ruggeds. And they were everything I expected to see all night. Just amazing moves, energy, stamina, all cleverly choreographed and with dramatic lighting. It felt like we had just watched a night of amateurs on Britain's Got Talent and then the professionals came on to show everyone how to do it. Just wow.
After that it was a late finish, but still time to take in a Turkish meal at Pasha. Yum.
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