B-CONVENTION HYPE! Q & A WITH TENTACLE TRIBE

Photo: Belinda Lawley

Every year when B-Convention comes round, I get a sweet little opportunity to shine a light on an artist or group and dig a little deeper into their processes, goals and general excitement at being involved in one of the biggest hip-hop events of the year.

It is my pleasure to introduce Tentacle Tribe, who were at the mercy of my questioning, and who you can catch on the Main Stage at Sadler's Wells this Saturday 29th April 2017.

Buy tickets here: Breakin' Convention booking page

After your collaboration in 2012 for Cirque Du Soliel, what made you decide to officially form Tentacle Tribe? We had for a while been talking about not feeling fully fulfilled creatively dancing for other companies and wanting to prioritise our own work. So, after making the "duet act" for Cirque Du Soleil and a 10 minute piece in a contemporary dance festival in Montreal (Festival Quartiers Danses), it was organic to just keep going. Tentacle Tribe was created as our creative outlet and expression of artistic freedom.

Where does the name Tentacle Tribe come from?

Instead of just using our names as choreographers we decided to find a name for our collaboration. The tentacle represents flexibility and adaptability, we chose tribe because we wanted to eventually have more people involved and also a sense of family vibe.

How does your dance push boundaries in the hip-hop dance arena?

I think this is a question for someone else than the artists, but if we have to answer, I think we push storytelling and how far you can stretch foundation and still feel authentic.

What has been your most challenging piece of work so far to create?

Our latest creation Fractals of You is an hour piece that involved projection mapping intricately interwoven into the dance. Coordinating music, projections, light design and the dance was extremely challenging but the end result was visually stunning and worth the hard work!

What is the driving force behind Tentacle Tribe?

The driving force behind Tentacle Tribe is the same force that bends light and vibrations to physical matter.

What does it mean to you to perform with Breakin’ Convention this year?

We are really exited to be a part of Breakin' Convention for the third time. We are extra hyped this year since we will present two of our creations.

What else is coming up for you this year and where else can we see you? After our doing the UK tour with Breakin' Convention, we will actually continue with Breakin' Convention in their Luxembourg edition as well as their new Canadian edition in Toronto. A few other dates include Amsterdam's Summer Dance Forever, London Ontario, Saint-Sauveur, Whitehorse and possibly a first venture out on the US West coast. We are also expanding our company with new dancers and starting a new creation for 6 dancers. We are still pursuing the research we've started with projection mapping and our new creation, to premiere in Montreal in fall 2018 at Place-des-arts, will be a sextet painted with projection mapping.

How can we find you online and on social media? You can find us on Facebook as Tentacle Tribe and on Instagram and Twitter as @tentacletribe. We also have our website for more info on the company: www.tentacletribe.com