Throwdown Fancy Dress 4th Birthday
By Dave Swindells (TIME OUT)
Thu Dec 13 2007
It’s not all Krayzee Krissmas
Parteez this week. There are big birthday bashes too,
like Throwdown’s annual fancy dress do where
they take the notion that hip hop clubs are full of
gangstas and do-or-die B-boy battlers, turn it on
its head and send it spinning across the lino.
Mind you, the monthly night isn’t giving up
on the competitive element that makes hip hop nights
such compelling club theatre: the dancers in the two-on-two
fancy dress breakin’ battle will still want
to win even if they’re dressed as tigers or
red peppers (like last year). The live graffiti battle
is back, they’ve got a pole-dancing showcase
and there’s a new contest too: DJs Who Dance.
‘Basically the idea is that DJs spin a track
and hit the mat,’ says co-promoter Charlie Blue,
the clubs’ host, Mystery MC. Throwdown was started
by DJ Donna Dee and Deekline but Deekline’s
DJ and production career took off shortly afterwards
so he’s an occasional guest now. I’d assumed
that Donna Dee would be a shoo-in (a trainer-in?)
for the DJs Who Dance battle, as she’s a competitive
breaker too, but Charlie points out that DJ Renegade
also trains the Soul Mavericks breaking squad, so
competition will be fierce.
And fun. ‘It’s not that we’re adding
anything new to make hip hop fun,’ says Morley,‘we’re
just reverting to the original block-party style that
had so many great elements to it. For the first couple
of hours, it’s more like being at the theatre
because the lights are up so that everyone can see
the action.’ Later it gets darker and clubbier,
but you’re more likely to hear James Brown than
50 Cent as it’s classic funky breaks and old-school
hip hop that the crowd mostly go for.
‘We really branched out this year,’ enthuses
Charlie, ‘and with the help of Eastpak, we’ve
got a sponsored team of beatboxers, rappers, DJs,
MCs and breakers who’ve been to Bulgaria, Hungary
and Germany, and there’s lots more lined up
in 2008.’ Catch them here while you can, but
fancy dress up!
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