Open Art Surgery Wrexham

Avant Cymru • Feb 22, 2020

Breakin' Convention delivered OAS in Wrexham February 2020

It was a stormy day February 10th 2020, artists from North Wales joined Avant and Breakin' Convention for the start of Open Art Surgery. We had one week to create a 6 minuet piece to present to audience to hear what they though. Breakin' Convention describe Open Art Surgery as "Hip hop theatre dissected, examined and put under the microscope. It is about breaking down the fourth wall and showcasing raw talent and new work.

It offers hip hop theatre companies and performers, from dancers and musicians to emcees and visual artists, the opportunity to develop and experiment with new ideas, share new work publicly and receive mentorship from experienced hip hop theatre creators."

In wales we welcomed a rapper, and 5 dancers; one who specialised in Popping, one in Breakin; one who nearing 50 years old desired to create new work inspired by his son leaving for uni and finding himself as a solo act on stage for the first time.

During the week Larynx Entertainment, Glyndwr University and Dance Associates from Theatr Clwyd joined us in Ty Pawb to discuss Hip Hop Theatre and non verbal Conversation. We joined the youth club held by EYST and met young Hip Hop Artists, who then joined us at the show.

Artist were mentored by Jonzi D and Anthony Lennon. Jonzi D is an MC, dancer, spoken word artist and director, he is the foremost advocate for hip hop who has changed the profile and influenced the development of the UK British hip hop dance and theatre scene over the last two decades.

Since founding Breakin’ Convention in 2004 Jonzi has triumphed in raising the profile and giving a platform to hip hop disciplines, which has gained worldwide recognition as being at the vanguard of the development of the art form. Through professional development projects Open Art Surgery and Back to the Lab, Jonzi has supported hundreds of hip hop dance and rap/poetry artists on their journey to creating theatre.

His critically acclaimed works include 1995‘s Lyrikal Fearta, 1999’s Aeroplane Man, 2006’s TAG… Just Writing My Name, 2009’s Markus the Sadist and 2013’s The Letter: To Be Or To MBE? Jonzi’s has been featured in HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, had his short films Silence da Bitchin’ & Aeroplane Man screened on Channel 4, toured his work extensively all over the world and delivered his own TED Talk about the influence and evolution of hip hop culture. https://youtu.be/g10orKvya5o

Anthony Ekundayo Lennon is an Artistic Director he trained at Talawa Theatre Company completed Sept 2019. With a wealth of experience & a deeply respected reputation in the UK arts industry, (thirty-five years) I've been working as a theatre director, actor, delivered workshops (drama, directing or exploration of 'race', Identity and culture, UK and USA) & been a guest industry director at various drama schools nationally. Just completed directing Welcome to Thebes at St. Mary's Uni. I have a highly regarded history of delivering sessions related to personal growth and development. Strong media/communicational skills are a natural aspect of my working practice. Initial training took place at the Weekend Arts College, Old/Young Vic Youth Theatres, Lyric Youth Theatre, Carib Theatre and Double Edge Theatre. One of the proudest career moments so far is being the Assistant/Resident director for the Broadway to London West End transfer of Debbie Allen's historic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof production, (Novello Theatre) working with James Earl Jones, Sanaa Lathan, Phylicia Rashad, Adrian Lester, Nina Sosanya and Peter de Jersey. Also, being the Assistant/Resident director on Iqbal Khan's Royal Shakespeare Company production of Othello, featuring Lucian Msamati and Hugh Quarshie, (Stratford Upon Avon).

Through out the week Jonzi and Anthony shared ideas, creative ways of working to develop new ideas and their knowledge to help all the acts develop. Jonzi led the show Friday evening, hearing first hand from audiences what they thought of their first experience of Hip Hop Theatre, hearing they wanted more in Wales.

Open Art Surgery was the first activity as part of Avant's Rooting Hip Hop Theatre in Wales training and Development programme, supported by Arts Council Wales. We hope to re-connect with the dancers on following training activities and invite not only other Welsh professional performers, but teachers and the community to workshops and activities across Wales. Take a look at our Hip Hop page to find out more. Get involved!