Full Lineup Set For BREAKIN' CONVENTION 2026 Festival

The world's biggest festival for hip hop theatre, Breakin' Convention, will return to Sadler's Wells Theatre in Angel this May bank holiday weekend (Friday 1–Monday 4 May 2026).

Founded, created and programmed by hip hop innovator Jonzi D, Breakin' Convention has been held annually at Sadler's Wells since 2004. Over its 22 years, it has become a global platform celebrating hip hop culture through dance, performance, and artistic expression. Featuring both UK and international artists, with the motto “around the world and around the corner”, the festival honours hip hop's roots while pushing creative boundaries, proving that the culture remains as relevant and multi-faceted as ever.

Across the weekend Breakin' Convention presents the full range of hip hop dance styles including breaking, popping, Krump, wacking and contemporary dance with a number of UK and world premiere performances. Taking over the full building at Sadler's Wells Theatre, there will be live DJ sets from esteemed mixmasters, dance workshops, live graffiti, cyphers, freestyle sessions, and soul food, to accompany auditorium performances.

The full 2026 headline acts include: AS Compagnie (France), Breakin' Convention Youth (UK), Compagnia Bellanda (Italy), ELKEIDO (UK), Emma Houston (UK), Gary Clarke (UK), ILL-Abilities (the Netherlands and Brazil), IMD Legion (UK), Joseph Toonga (UK), Kaner Scott (UK), Lanre Malaolu (UK), Let It Happen (the Netherlands), Marie Kaae (Denmark), Mikee Trice (UK), Rock Force Crew (USA) and Y.O.U Company (UK).

This year, the festival kicks off with Friction on Friday 1 May, a special opening event of electrifying battles hosted by Kingdoms League and other performances from hip hop theatre luminaries. Audiences are invited to join from 4pm on Saturday and Sunday, and the weekend's programming is suitable for ages 12 and over, with parental discretion advised for younger attendees.

In 2026, Breakin' Convention will also present a family-friendly weekend at Sadler's Wells East in Stratford. The free Breakin' Convention Family Jam, on Saturday 25 April, welcomes future breakers and poppers of all ages. The weekend will feature performances in the foyer's community dance space, The Dance Floor, as well as food, workshops, DJ sets, sample sessions, and community showcases.

Breakin' Convention 2026, Friction - Friday 1 May

Opening night Friction, on Friday 1 May, launches the weekend with electrifying foyer battles, live DJs, and politically rich auditorium performances by Compagnia Bellanda, Emma Houston, Joseph Toonga, Kaner Scott and Rock Force. Doors open at 6pm.

Italian duo Compagnia Bellanda, founded by Giovanni Leonarduzzi and Claudia Latini, present La Dolce Vita, a UK premiere that straddles the line between passion and possession, permission and power. Fusing breaking and contemporary dance, the company has developed a distinctive movement language they term 'floor-flirting.'

Multi-disciplinary storyteller Emma Houston presents Where Is The Line?, a deeply personal exploration of the balance between seemingly contradictory parts of themselves. Working across theatre, commercial and underground dance styles, Houston embraces grey areas in a world that often demands binary choices.

Born to Protest: The Reframe, another UK premiere, is an all-female reimagining of Joseph Toonga's work that delivers a powerful performance rooted in krumping. Originally conceived as Toonga's first public work, as part of his Born to Manifest trilogy, this iteration explores themes of power, defiance, and vulnerability from a female perspective.

South East London dancer and choreographer Kaner Scott presents Don't Be Diggi, a work exploring the consequences of accepting a government digital ID. Blending flexin', electro and popping, the piece follows a duo whose movement shifts from freedom to control as they become increasingly entangled in the system, until escape feels impossible. Scott's career began when he was discovered busking on the streets of London, launching him onto the international stage.

Rock Force have created a new high-energy performance, marking its world premiere at Breakin' Convention. Established in 1983, Rock Force Crew is the fourth generation of the legendary b-boy crew from California, USA. Over the decades, they've won countless iconic battles, including first place at the UK B-boy Championships in 2025. This performance features b-boys Morris, Icey Ives, Kareem, and more.

Breakin' Convention 2026, Saturday 2 & Sunday 3 May

The weekend's festival programme includes two full days of performances. The lineup includes AS Compagnie, Breakin' Convention Youth, Compagnia Bellanda, ELKEIDO, Emma Houston, Gary Clarke, ILL-Abilities, IMD Legion, Joseph Toonga, Kaner Scott, Lanre Manolu, Let It Happen, Marie Kaae, Mikee Trice, Rock Force and Y.O.U Company. As well, Breakin' Convention takes over the entire building with dance workshops, live graffiti, cyphers, freestyle sessions, and more. Doors open at 4pm.

French duo, AS Compagnie (Andrège Bidiamambu and Seren Kano) present quatre trois, an exploration of locking and polyrhythms. By layering simultaneous square and triangular patterns in both music and movement, the piece highlights mathematical precision and technical rigour rooted in hip-hop forms. Moving beyond practice sessions and battles, they use movement as a language, inviting the audience into an ongoing conversation between the two performers.

Also returning to Sadler's Wells in the Lillian Baylis Studio, HOMESICK is a piece conceived by Break Convention Youth alongside Theophilus and Jade Hackett. Developed over a twelve-week programme last September, the work combines movement, spoken word, rap, and grime, reflecting how young Londoners consider their lives, environments, and sense of belonging through collective storytelling.

London-based company Elkeido, led by co-directors Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser, present Femina, a celebration of femininity in all its forms inspired by Janina Ramirez's book of the same title. The work blends contemporary dance with underground club and street styles, including voguing, waacking, house and threading, set to a score by Stela Mozgawa. Performed by six dancers, the cast includes female-identifying, AFAB, non-binary, queer and global majority artists, chosen for both their skills and lived connection to the work.

Gary Clarke's BANK explores the cypher in hip hop freestyle and its influence on the next generation of dancers, capturing the identity, energy and lived experience of the UK's emerging freestylers. An East London-based artist specialising in krump, his movement draws on the nuances of hip hop social dance and its many accents.

Returning to Breakin' Convention by popular demand, ILL-Abilities is a trailblazing all-star collective of differently abled b-boys from the Netherlands and Brazil. This world premiere performance builds on their practice, which defies any perceived limitations. Their extraordinary skills have drawn headlines and packed venues since their early days. ILL-Abilities will form part of the Breakin' Convention 2026 UK tour.

IMD Legion, an East London street dance crew founded in 2010 by Omar Ansah-Awuah, present a world premiere at Sadler's Wells. With members aged 10–16 from East London, Essex, and Kent, the crew offers a broad range of styles with each dancer specialising in a different street discipline.

Olivier-nominated writer, director, and choreographer Lanre Malaolu returns to the stage with the international premiere of FOUND, devised especially for Breakin' Convention. Blending movement and spoken word, the piece is framed as a best man's speech addressed to the audience, gradually unravelling into an intimate inner dialogue. Inspired by the complex emotions of attending a loved one's wedding while navigating personal heartbreak, it captures awe, joy, warmth, envy, jealousy, and sadness.

Norah, Yarah and Rosa collectively known as Let It Happen will grace Breakin' Convention with a world premiere performance of their infectious brand of classic hip hop dance. These real-life sisters have become social media sensations and have been dancing together since birth. Taught by their parents who passed on their knowledge of the golden generation, Let It Happen have taken the baton, sharing their skills and gaining over a million followers online.

Maire Kaae's What She Said combines house dance and spoken word poetry to examine beauty in relation to capitalism, genetic inheritance, and spirituality. Marking Kaae's first auto-choreographed solo, What She Said is a deeply personal and potent statement, drawing on a lifetime of experience and sociological research to navigate the complexities of existing in a world obsessed with beauty and ugliness.

The Weight of Keeping Upright is Mikee Trice's choreographic debut and first fully realised hip-hop theatre piece. Developed during a period of homelessness, the piece explores survival, pressure, and identity, tracing the struggle to keep going amid instability. Blending hip-hop theatre and physical storytelling, the work offers a raw, immersive confession of lived experience and the cost of remaining upright. Trice is currently a student at Academy Breakin' Convention.

East London crew Y.O.U Company present the international premiere of It's who Y.O.U are, led by Jordan J. Funk, choreographer, teacher, and former member of award-winning, UK-based hip hop dance theatre company Boy Blue. Funk has revitalised his former dance studio, Maryland Creative, transforming it into a vibrant community centre and arts hub. Developed through his mentorship and self-development programme within the East London community, the piece explores the journey of losing oneself through the perceptions of others, showing how we can feel we know our true selves while existing in multiple versions shaped by how others see us.

Following their Friday night performance, Compagnia Bellanda, Emma Houston, Joseph Toonga, Kaner Scott and Rock Force will also present work over the weekend, providing additional opportunities to see their mastery in action.

This year's Breakin' Convention Festival at Sadler's Wells Theatre is aimed at audiences aged 12+. For more information about the history of hip hop, and a guide to Breakin' Convention, visit Our Hip Hop Guide — Breakin' Convention.

Breakin' Convention 2026 Tour (Saturday 9 May to Saturday 6 June)

Immediately after the London Festival, Breakin' Convention embarks on a nationwide tour, travelling to towns and cities across the United Kingdom including its first dates in Canterbury. Featuring, TRAPLORD, Femme Fatale, ILL-Abilities and other local crews in each venue.

The Olivier Award-winning TRAPLORD, created by prolific artist and choreographer Ivan Blackstock will join the Breakin' Convention tour. Blackstock's innovative body of work includes collaborations with artists such as Beyoncé as well as solo performances, film and more. Exploring masculinity and mental health, TRAPLORD is an explosive fusion of movement and storytelling challenging racial stereotypes of Black men.

The 2026 tour lineup also includes Los Angeles-based trio Femme Fatale who are of French, Mexican and Korean origin. Renowned for their slick and timeless performances, stylish musicality and razor-sharp moves, Femme Fatale's appearances at Breakin' Convention in recent years have been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.

Breakin' Convention tours to The Marlowe, Canterbury (9 May), Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham (15 & 16 May), Belgrade Theatre, Coventry (20 May), Tramway, Glasgow (23 May), Brighton Dome, Brighton (27 May) Lighthouse, Poole (30 May), CAST, Doncaster (3 June) and The Grand, Blackpool (6 June).