Into the Hoods Returns for Xmas on Southbank

Following its West End season last year, for which it won one of this year’s Whatsonstage.com Awards, hip-hop dance extravaganza Into the Hoods will return to the London stage this Christmas, running for a festive season from 16 December 2009 to 10 January 2010 at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

A hit at the Edinburgh Fringe in the 2006 and 2007, Into the Hoods had its West End premiere in March 2008 at the Novello Theatre, where it twice extended its limited run, finally finishing last August and culminating with the West End debut of last year’s Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson. The production won the 2009 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Ensemble Performance, and was also nominated for Best Choreographer and Newcomer of the Year for George Sampson.

A hip-hop version of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Into the Hoods follows two children lost in the ‘hood’ and is performed by a cast of 19 adults and nine children (three on stage at any one time). Characters include singer Lil Red, two-timing rapper Prince, Rap-en-Zel and the gold trainer-wearing Spinderella.

The company, ZooNation, employs its trademark narrative street dance/theatre style against a backdrop of music from the Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Prince, Basement Jaxx and others. The family-friendly show – conceived, directed and choreographed by Kate Prince – is one of the few to successfully bring street dance into the theatre, and it pre-dates recent interest in street dance prompted by Britain’s Got Talent troupes Diversity and Flawless.

Ahead of Into the Hoods’ new Southbank dates, Kate Prince is working with Southbank Centre on other projects, starting with Dance Mob, a one-minute dance routine which will be performed in the outdoor spaces around the Royal Festival Hall by hundreds of members of the public on Sunday 30 August 2009.

Southbank Centre artistic director Jude Kelly commented on Into the Hoods: “Street dance is currently gripping the nation and deservedly so. Southbank Centre has a long tradition of providing this burgeoning art form with a platform, so we are thrilled to welcome ZooNation’s urban take on a classic fairytale here, as one of the highlights of this year’s Christmas programme.”