Hip-Hop Dance Theatre Company Boy Blue to Mark 25 Years with CYCLES at Roundhouse

Celebrated Olivier Award-winning Hip-Hop dance theatre company Boy Blue will mark its 25th anniversary in a revival of its international hit show ‘Cycles,' performed to live music in Roundhouse's iconic 270-degree hall. Conception and composition is by Michael ‘Mikey J' Asante, and choreography is by Kenrick ‘H2O' Sandy and Jade Hackett.

Drawn from classical, jazz, funk, soul and R&B, the live band includes a string quartet led by violinist Tzu-Fan Tang, multi-platinum artist Kaelin Ellis on drums, Rob Gentry on keyboards, and percussionist John Blease. Orchestration is by Peter Riley, who reunites with Asante following previous collaborations ‘Outliers' at Barbican Hall and ‘Free Your Mind' at Manchester's Aviva Studios.

Boy Blue is led by Michael ‘Mikey J' Asante and Kenrick ‘H2O' Sandy, and ‘Cycles' is presented by Roundhouse Three Sixty, its annual youth culture festival, in association with Barbican, London. ‘Cycles' was conceived by Asante as “a joyful celebration of hip-hop dance in all its forms.” Asante, who returns to the stage for the first time since 2018, will lead on electronics, live-mixing and producing his soundtrack while conducting the band.

Joining the band from the USA is multi-platinum producer and artist Kaelin Ellis, whose beats feature on Asante's original soundtrack for ‘Cycles.' Ellis said, “I resonate heavily with Boy Blue's vision… there’s a giant exchange that happens when you take all of the greatest combinations of art like dance, Hip-Hop and classical music and put it in one space.”

Kenrick ‘H2O' Sandy's choreography summons up a living cypher with nine dancers from Boy Blue's professional cohort. Together they showcase movement at its most fluid, with precise, pulsating ensemble sequences distilled through a series of solos in each performer's highly technical signature style.

The original cast reunites for the anniversary production: Jimmy Allan, Nicey Belgrave, Tanaka Bingwa, Gabija Čepelytė, Paris Crossley, Evion Hackett, Kyron ‘Nykro' Jake, Kelsey ‘Hydro' Miller, and Corey Owens.

Michael ‘Mikey J' Asante said: “This show is all about energy… Cycles is a high-octane show built like a mixtape—continuously moving forward while coming back to the original DNA of Hip-Hop and Beat Tape Culture. I created over seventy tracks while developing this show… The point of Cycles is that you never see the same show twice.”

Kenrick ‘H2O' Sandy added: “With this cyclical journey, we're looking to the next generation… Having live music incorporated into Cycles will elevate the experience not only for the dancers but also for the audience.”

‘Project rEVOLUTION’

With every major live production, Boy Blue provides opportunities through its core practice of youth engagement and talent development. Continuing this tradition, Boy Blue and Roundhouse will collaborate to form a new young people's dance collective.

Choreographed by Kenrick ‘H2O' Sandy, twenty-one dancers aged 18–25 will be joined by Roundhouse's Music Production Drop In and Poetry Collectives to create their first dance theatre work. ‘Project rEVOLUTION’ premieres on the main stage during the ‘Cycles’ performance weekend, alongside two local young companies and select pieces from Boy Blue's repertoire.

The original production of ‘Cycles’ was choreographed with Jade Hackett and commissioned by the Barbican, London, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York. The anniversary year includes further international touring, including a performance at La Villette's Golden Stages festival in Paris.