Distinct | Annikki Chand

For too long ballet and contemporary dance styles have been given the opportunity to showcase their works on the stage while their younger ‘sibling’, street dance, has been sorely overlooked and relegated to the back-burner.

Maddance House and Metro Arts have joined forces to change this mindset and to redirect this conversation.

I attended Distinct, a creative development, dance work in progress, one-woman show by Annikki Chand who is one of the very few women in Queensland’s krump scene, her chosen street dance style. 

Over a mere twenty minutes, Annikki seamlessly managed to channel three separate personas - Sheena, the bollywood dancer oozing femininity followed by Karen, the bold Australian sports loving fan and finally Annikki as herself, the lover of krump who is unafraid to tap into her masculine side. 

Juxtaposing bollywood alongside krump made for an interesting combination where Annikki could equally emphasise her feminine prowess alongside her stronger, bolder masculine side without the one overpowering the other. 

Utilising the energetic, powerful and sometimes aggressive dance moves of krump in conjunction with the fun, entertaining, dynamic bollywood dance style, Annikki took this dance lover on a journey as she fearlessly tapped into discovering her Indian and Finnish heritage, her roots. 

Minimal props accompanied by an energetic musical score and an engaging storyline are strong ingredients for expanding on this work in progress. My advice would be that characterisation needs to be explored further and on a much deeper level. 

A feeling of connection overwhelmed this woman of colour as Annikki’s familiar story of identity and belonging unfolded through dance and music, two visceral reminders of my ethnic background. Bollywood movies were very much a part of my youth in South Africa making for many a light-hearted night at the cinema, and although krump is relatively new to me, it unwittingly invokes feelings of frustration and anger for the racist laws pre the dismantling of apartheid. 

So it came as no surprise that bollywood had me moving along with the beats while krump had me feeling hyped and empowered. But whatever the outcome, dance has a way of penetrating my very being, compelling me to be enveloped by the moment.

To end, krump versus bollywood is a refreshing take on street dance and I look forward to Annikki exploring these themes further.  

Sidenote : The time, the effort, the financial outlay that street dancers dedicate to honing their skills is dismissed and often relegated to being a mere ‘pastime’. What we fail to acknowledge is, just like with its older ‘siblings’, street dance still requires the discipline and the dedication afforded to ballet and contemporary dance styles in order to be successful. 

Now in its second year the Mad Dance Festival is an opportunity to showcase world class street dance artists in a celebration of Queensland’s diverse street dance scene. 

Kudos to Maddance House for changing the conversation and for finally giving street dance the platform it deserves - the theatre!