Win Tickets to the Sold-Out Red Bull Flying Bach

J.S. Bach gets a street-level youth culture shake-up.
Hannah Ongley
Published on February 18, 2013

Envision the music of Bach in dance form and what you get is probably not a nine-headed b-boy crew pulling off head spins and power moves. But that's what artistic director Christoph Hagel and choreographer/mastermind Vartan Bassil have done with Red Bull Flying Bach: an explosive streetdance driven by the music of the visionary 18th-century composer.

The dancers are Berlin-based breakdance crew Flying Steps, formed by Bassil and Kadir 'Amigo' Memis almost 10 years ago. While their moves are normally driven by urban sounds, this time head spins are inspired by piano keys and b-boy freezes by Bach's fuges. Though that might be putting it too simply; what they're really doing is interpreting Bach's music rather than dancing to it. Different dancers represent different notes, and electronic beats fuse the gaps between the two disparate worlds without at all bastardising the original score. If there was any way Bach could have seen this coming 300 years ago, he'd no doubt approve.

We have two double passes to give away to Red Bull Flying Bach in Sydney on March 8 and Melbourne on March 15. To be in the running, subscribe to our newsletter (if you haven't already) and then email [email protected] with your name and address.

Published on February 18, 2013 by Hannah Ongley
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