Concrete Playground

Touted as the dance event of the Sydney Festival, Bale de Rua is coming to town with a whole lot of sweet dance action that smacks of Brazil. Using original music, traditional melodies, dynamic percussion and ridiculously-impressive production design, the company has created a mini break-beat carnivale, big on energy and athleticism. With a cast of fourteen men and one woman who specialise in hip hop, breakdance, capoiera and congado, Bale de Rua (literally 'street ballet') traces the history of Brazil, from its African roots to contemporary times. It was a sell-out in Paris and massive in Edinburgh and London - sending the critics into praise spasms anywhere it goes.

Founded by two street-taught dancers, Marco Antonio Garcia (apparently we'll be hard pressed to find a more sculpted human body), an ex petrol pump/supermarket attendant and Jose Marcel Silva, an ex coffee bean picker/bricklayer, Bale de Rua is both an internationally acclaimed company and a dance school. Most of the dancers are graduates and many of them now also teach Bale de Rua dance classes in the poor neighbourhoods of central Brazil.

Photo by Eric Deniset