A large crowd gathered at the Townhouse Gallery Tuesday night for what was to be the sneak preview of the First Mediterranean Hip Hop Gathering in Cairo, hosted by the Spanish Embassy and Al-Mawred Cultural Resource.
The gallery’s stark Factory Space harkened the lofts of Brooklyn and the Bronx where hip hop was born, yet the evening was far from those ‘underground’ scenes. Flashing cameras, television reporters and journalists flooded the room.
One section of the gallery was consumed by a large white surface being spray painted by a graffiti artist wearing a gas mask. In the remaining space, refined images by the same artist were hung on canvas.
The performance portion of the evening began in front of the aforementioned canvas in progress. A young woman began on the dusty floor of the large gallery space, performing a virtuosic, somewhat gymnastic routine. Her moves, in fact, were not unlike that of the floor routine of gymnasts in certain settings, yet did not immediately scream hip hop. What followed, however, was unmistakably so. A different young woman in an Adidas jacket and Kangol cap took the floor popping and wiggling to blaring disco/soul music until joined by another in a free-style duet.
This was the work of Spanish choreographer, and mastermind of the project, Dani Panullo. Last year, Panullo was invited by Walid Aouni to bring his dance piece Desordances 3 to Cairo. But when it came to creating a project of the current scope, Panullo met more obstacles.
“Nobody believed in this project in the beginning, just Ramon, he said, referring to Ramon Bluca, the Spanish cultural attaché. “I’ve been doing my own thing here in Cairo, getting my own flat in Zamalek, getting my own dancers. Everyone said: ‘You’re crazy! Why do you want to go there [to Egypt]?’
The show is now touring internationally and the company will open an official house devoted to this dance form in Madrid. “In three days, we will be dancing for the king, Panullo remarked.
Speaking of the contrast between the informal atmosphere at the Townhouse Gallery and what audiences can expect tonight when the show moves to Azhar Park’s Genina Theater, he said, “The concept of the show is ‘concert choreography’… my concept of shows is like a movie. I want people to be sitting, in the dark, and have a chance to dream.
When asked about whether he arrived to choreography from a dance or hip hop background, Panullo said, “Hip hop is a dance, but is something that is completely new. Contemporary dance is a dance in translation, but try to tell me some theory about hip hop. You can’t, because it is now. It is the new rock and roll for the 21st century.
America has greatly influenced cultures around the world through hip hop, Panullo said, and “America for me is a dragon that’s spitting fire everywhere. I just take from it what I like and make it my own.
He went on to discuss his appreciation of the roots of different dance forms and the places this interest has taken him, far and beyond the origins of break dance in New York City. Among them was the Japanese style known as Butoh, which he found worth some exploration: “Butoh is really the new dance of the world. I tell my dancers whenever you can, go to Japan and take a class.
Following the chat with Panullo, Daily News Egypt met with Zeta, a seasoned Spanish graffiti artist touring with the show.
“I started doing graffiti when I was young, in 1984-1985, then I went to school for art. In the early 90s I traveled a lot, in Europe and the US doing graffiti. That’s how I became famous in my own country, he said.
Zeta said the Spanish hip hop culture has undergone many changes in his lifetime. “Right now in Spain, hip hop is so heavy. Graffiti is not just related to hip hop. It’s not a dead art; it’s always moving and changing.
“Normally you paint in the streets. You show your work to everyone and they don’t pay for it. But now it’s illegal.
“Now I am starting to introduce graffiti into galleries. It’s a way to give a vindication. The most important thing for all [graffiti] writers is to show your art, said Zeta.
This is Zeta’s first time in Cairo. He referred to his work here and with Panullo as an effort to strengthen and develop the hip hop community; a mentoring process for the younger generation to infuse a professionalism that is not always obvious to less established, enthusiastic young artists.
Among some of the more experienced hip hop artists in Egypt is Kareem Adel, a.k.a. Rush, a members of the Cairo-based hip hop group Arabian Knights.
“Spain and Arabia have a long history together, said Adel, “We invented many of their musical instruments and gave them information about math, science. It’s good to bring the communication back and collaborate with Spain.
Adel began rapping in English because he wanted to test himself and the “limits of that language .
“I didn’t know that you can do multi-syllabic rhyming, punch line and word play in Arabic. But then I started reading the Quran a lot and realized that the Quran already did it. I realized that if you can rap in Arabic, you can rap in any language, he said.
Adel now raps in English as well as colloquial and classic Arabic (fusha).
“Fusha is the richest language. The origins of the Arabic language are poetry, and the Quran is one of the best books of poetry. Rap is rhythmic and I learn a lot about it from the Arabic language. We are the originators of this form. Rap didn’t start in the Bronx, it started here.
Tonight’s gathering includes Arabian Nights, Egy-crew break dancers, graffiti artist Zeta, beat- boxer Bilal and a selection of dances by the Dani Panullo’s Dance Theater Company, MC Amin and Spanish hip-hop producer Frank T.
– Catch the First Mediterranean Hip Hop gathering in Cairo tonight at Azhar Park’s Genina Theater, 9 pm. Tel: (02) 2362 5057.
