Abstract Street

Hip-hop has increasingly become the choice for modern dance companies hoping to inject some panache and excitement into the contemporary: with a presence which ranges from music videos through to street battles, it has the flashy exuberance of acrobatics and undeniable cool.

Dance Base has teamed up with Avant Garde Dance Company for a special danse de jour on Thursday 13th August. AGDC arrive in Edinburgh from London for their show, Spectrum, which offers a unique, funky fusion.

“We are bringing our London energy and style, mixed with hip hop and contemporary dance,” claims Avant Garde’s main man Tony Adigun. “We will deliver our signature style Abstract Street Dance.” Adigun has created a complex combination. “I have taken classes in everything from jazz, hip hop, contemporary, Chinese pole, ballet to butoh and have had the privilege to train with some of the pioneers in the hip hop and contemporary scenes.” The final mash-up is all his own, however. “I draw from all of these aspects.”
Their current show is inspired, rather like Tony Mill’s piece, by television. “I came across the old BBC test card image and that sparked loads of different televisual dance ideas. The image took me back to my childhood when TV wasn’t on all day.” This led to some interesting questions. “What happens at that late hour when all are sleeping but some are still watching? Or what happens in the lucid flow of our imagination when tuned to that still image? If that iconic girl from the image could escape into a dance world what would she encounter and how would she feel?”
Adigun has been dancing since a very young age. “My mum was a dancer and so I guess it's just in the blood.” His talent soon revealed itself: “in primary school I won loads of dancing competitions and always knew that this was what I wanted to do.” By the time he had started university, he was already in demand, and faced a tough choice. “I began a Computer science degree. When I had to choose to go to lecture or fly to LA and choreograph a video for Mel B it was a no brainer, really!”
His work with artists from Usher to Whitney Houston eventually led to his next decision: “I established Avant Garde as a creative release to produce my own work without the restrictions of record companies that the commercial scene holds.”

For Adigun, the name sums up the attitude: Innovate, Never Replicate, while it “gives us the confidence to step outside of the box, to constantly take risks, develop, progress and collaborate with other forms such as poetry, singers, musicians, film, circus and multi-media.” All of this informs the attitude of the workshop, Adigun concludes. “In uniquely fusing these styles we want people to leave our workshops with a new perspective on dance and innovation”.