Date posted: June 1, 2005

The City as Stage

I am fascinated and excited by the emergence of new forms of movement art, which are not commonly regarded as dance, such as skateboarding and parkour. In skateboarding and parkour or "free running" as it is also called, the city itself becomes a stage. As David Belle, one of the founding fathers of parkour, said in an interview, in parkour the aim is to overcome physical obstacles that appear in an urban environment with both speed and agility and an emphasis on smooth, flowing movements.

Some of the most exciting new forms of dance to have emerged in the past few decades, breakdance and krumpin', have their roots on the streets. This is no accident. One of the most interesting aspects of krumpin' is that in krumpin' dance matters. Dance or drugs that's the question. By contrast much dance that can be seen in theatres is obsessed with itself, desiring to be Art.

Transposed to a theatre breakdance and krumpin' lose much of their edge. It becomes subjugated to the laws of the theatre. Audiences arrive with a set of expectations. Performances require a suspension curve. The length of the performance has been pre-defined. The audience is static, frozen in their seats. But why perform in a theatre when you can perform on the street? What is the added prestige of performing in a theatre?

Links:

Urban Freeflow. Excellent parkour resource.

Parkour.net. Another excellent parkour site with lots of videos. In six languages.

David Belle. Home of one of the founding fathers of parkour.

Le parkour. French parkour site with lots of footage by David Belle and Sebastian Foucan.

3RUN. Home of a UK based free running team. Includes many videos.