The choreographer and dancer Bruno Beltrao was born in Niteroi, a neighboring city of Brazil’s capital Rio de Janeiro. Still 28-years young, Beltrao is one of the currently most highly regarded choreographers worldwide. The occasion for him to step into the world of dance was his dedication to street dance. After he had been taking part in various street dance events and competitions with a group of friends for a while, he started to work on a more philosophical approach to hip hop, analyzing its elements and re-arranging them in a free way.

“H3”, his most recent work that shows his ideas and expectations towards dance very elaborately, was co-produced by some of the most influential festivals in Europe such as the Kunsten Festival des Arts (Brussels), the Festival d’Automne (Paris) and the HAU Theater in Berlin and after its premiere in 2008 has been highly acclaimed in the whole world.

In “H3” the energetic and dynamic physicality of street dance merges with an analytic point of view, a compact and subtle form and a high tension persisting through the whole piece. Leaving out all elements that are not really needed, relying only on a very simple stage set and music, “H3” intensively focuses on the topics of ‘perception’ and ‘space’. The nine well-trained dancers continuously repeat movements - always on the edge between demanding physical contact and avoiding it, heading for collision and trying to prevent it.

One might have doubts, if this work is really to be called a hip hop piece, when having an image in mind, that refers to the typical hip hop elements displaying breakneck techniques put on a groovy and speedy music.

But, “Hip hop is incorporating an innovative vocabulary rich of expression. Now, we have to bring hip hop to a turning point.” says Beltrao, distancing himself from an idea of hip hop just aiming to joy and excitement. By this, he is offering a new point of departure for this genre.