Cypher Program

RIVERSIDE THEATRE 19–24 JANUARY 50MINS

CYPHER AUSTRALIA

CYPHER DIRECTED AND CONCEIVED BY

Nick Power CHOREOGRAPHY

Nick Power in collaboration with the dancers PERFORMED BY B*BOYS

Stevie G, Blue, Taz and Akorn ARTISTIC CONSULTANT

Lee Wilson CHOREOGRAPHIC CONSULTANT

Anne Nguyen LIGHTING DESIGNER

Mirabelle Wouters SOUND DESIGNER

Jack Prest CREATIVE PRODUCER

Britt Guy NICK POWER ON THE INSPIRATION FOR CYPHER Welcome to Cypher. I started researching this piece 25 years ago when I first stepped into a cypher – the dance circle at my school social. I was 13 years old. Since then this circle has taught me so much.

Courage to take that first step, to be challenged, to perform under pressure and in front of your peers, to share and exchange, to learn. It has given me a worldwide community, the body and mind of a mature dancer (injuries and all) and it’s given me my passion in life, to dance and to create with dancers.

The idea to make this work first came into being during my Australia Council residency in Paris in 2012. I went to a large-scale stadium battle with an audience of over 10,000 people.

It was incredible to sit in that arena with everyone there to see a breaking battle. But something was missing.

In the breaks between the battles the floors weren’t alive with the cyphers that usually form. As everyone stayed put in their grand stand seat it became a stage show of superstar dancers rather than the cultural events that real hip-hop jams are. The next night I attended another event, this time on the outskirts of Paris on a basketball court with graffiti on all four walls. There was no audience, only participants. About ten cyphers were happening at the same time, some were hungry and heated and others were celebratory, feeling the beats. It was there that I was reminded of how important the cypher is to hip-hop.

There is no winner, no prize money – it’s about a community and a culture.

Rituals should change you and stepping into that first cypher changed my life. This is my homage to that circle and I hope you find within it the culture, energy and fun that I found and still find when I dance in a cypher.

We developed this work in Sydney with thanks to the generous support of the Australia Council, Critical Path, Urban Theatre Projects and Stalker Theatre. We premiered at Darwin Festival and then Junction Arts Festival in Launceston in 2014. In 2015 the work did a tour of Europe and Australia taking in URB Festival in Helsinki, a season in Melbourne at Footscray Arts Centre and a string of dates through the Northern Territory including the remote Aboriginal community of Lajamanu where I have worked on various projects over the past 10 years.

We are very excited to finally bring it home as part of Sydney Festival.

Thanks: To Nina and Cristina for everything. To the original cast and collaborators: Don, Blond, Stevie G, Tepo and Hideboo, this work is a reflection of your skill, knowledge and humour. To Jack Prest for his incredible sound design. To Britt Guy for your hard work and belief in this project. To the Australia Council for the ongoing support and to all the artists, organizations and presenters who have supported Cypher and my career.