Sadler’s Wells and Breakin’ Convention present the Hip Hop Games and Breaking Olympic Watch Parties at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this August

• Ahead of Breaking’s inaugural appearance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, eight east London dancers will compete across two teams in the Hip Hop Games on Saturday 8 August
• The Breaking Olympic Watch Parties will livestream the Breaking Olympic finals on Friday 9 & Saturday 10 August with DJs from BBC 1Xtra
• Academy Breakin’ Convention (ABC) are running free Summer Sessions for 14 – 17 year olds from Monday 5 – Thursday 8 August at East London Dance

Sadler’s Wells and Breakin’ Convention present the Hip Hop Games on Stratford Waterfront in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this summer ahead of Breaking’s inaugural appearance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the opening of Sadler’s Wells East. On Saturday 3 August from 12-7pm, eight East London dancers will compete across two teams in a hip-hop dance improvisation game with a series of different creative challenges in a free event for all the family.

The Hip Hop Games is a concept born in France in 2011 by dancer, choreographer and artistic director Romuald Brizolier and is the first concept that offers a hip-hop dance improvisation game staged through various creative challenges. The Hip Hop Games has since toured internationally, bringing together dancers from across the world and gaining widespread recognition.

The line-up on Saturday 3 August includes Matthew ‘Omni’ Eudu, Nicolas Marvel, Lauren Scott and Paris Crossley who will form the popping crew.

They will compete against the Krump crew: Masaiya Thomas, Jordan ‘Sapien’ Douglas, Amanda ‘Siren’ Pefkou and Alicia ‘Mafia’ Cox. BBC 1Xtra will also present a range of DJs for this interactive event which sees audiences have their say on the winning team.

The Hip Hop Games form part of East Bank’s summer programme, bringing together East Bank’s cultural institutions, world-leading universities and residents of East London, with music, dance, sport, art and more. East Bank is the UK’s newest cultural quarter at the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and is comprised of V&A East; Sadler’s Wells East; London College of Fashion, UAL; UCL East (University College London) and the new BBC Music Studios.

To continue marking Breaking’s debut in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Sadler’s Wells and Breakin’ Convention are inviting visitors to watch the Breaking Olympic finals at free live watching parties on Friday 9 & Saturday 10 August. The Breaking Olympic Watch Parties will take place at Riverside East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with DJs from BBC 1Xtra and will include panel talks with breakers involved in the Olympic qualifiers.

Breaking is a dance form which is celebrated across the East Bank, driven by the Academy Breakin’ Convention (ABC) at Sadler’s Wells East. ABC will offer a free full-time further education programme for creative and talented 16-19 year olds, covering the foundations of hip-hop theatre. ABC is running Summer Sessions for 14 – 17-year-olds to learn the foundations of hip-hop theatre for free from Monday 5 – Thursday 8 August at East London Dance. Across 4 high-impact days, ABC will break down the basics of breaking, DJing, emceeing, graffiti, music production, popping and hip-hop social dance, exploring these elements through a theatrical lens.

NEED TO KNOW: For more information on Sadler’s Wells’ summer activity in east London please visit this link.  Further information on the opening of Sadler’s Wells East will be announced soon.