Red Bull Bring The Vim Speaks to Music and Dance’s Enduring Partnership
Words MIRANNE WATLEY // Stills SHOKIRIE CLARKE // Photo Assist CHANELLE JOHNSON // Motion SIENNA DAWN
Dancers love music. We often choose a song before choreographing. We move as soon as our favourite artist starts playing. And everyone knows a teacher who boom shahs their way through their entire class, desperately trying to make the music come alive for the dancers in the studio (who, inevitably, will only get it as soon as the original song starts playing). Dancers love music. But it’s equally as important to remember that music loves dancers. We feature in music videos and concert sets. DJs take to Instagram asking why is no one dancing anymore? to implore people to keep moving. Even the waveforms that represent a song’s volume are in motion. Music both inspires and is inspired by movement.
“you can’t have the music without the dance or the dance without the music” - Bontle
And it is this interdependence, the inseparable relationship between movement and music, that was celebrated at Red Bull’s Bring The Vim last weekend. On Saturday 12th September, BOXPARK Croydon hosted four crews, three judges, two guest performances, and an unstoppable host (shoutout Remi Burgz) for Red Bull’s annual crew-vs-crew Afro dance competition. The deep bass of Amapiano and syncopated drums of Afrobeats became tangible in the bodies that filled the space. From the competing dancers to the encouraging crowds, the guest performers to the judges, music and movement were intertwined and marked the event with a hypnotic energy. The symbiotic relationship between music and dance couldn’t have been clearer.
This creative unity defined the night and made sure that Bring The Vim lived up to its name. “Vim means feeling. Vim means push. Vim is intangible but… it’s clearly powerful, it’s clearly seen, and it’s clearly loud” Kurty Swift (of HomeBros) told us. “Vim is spirit, feeling, ancestral” added Unkle TC. Both played pivotal roles in setting up the event from its inception (“It’s like our little baby”) and emphasised how “to have a platform like Red Bull be on board… to take African art, dance, and movement through the UK, and hopefully globally, is a very special thing”. NSG and Cultur FM (guest performers of the evening) reiterated the importance of this intangible Vim. “Vim means… energy, just crazy energy. Coming with the best that you’ve got”.
And this energy, created by the powerful fusion of music, movement, and emotion, is crucial to preserve when celebrating Afro cultures. Tobi (co-founder of Cultur FM) emphasised how “African music and dance are… intrinsically linked… There are certain songs where the moment you hear the beat drop, you know what movement is coming”. An evening dedicated towards spotlighting creativity across the African diaspora, Red Bull Bring The Vim made sure the unity between music and dance was kept at the forefront.
However, crucially, everyone we spoke to was also deeply conscious of the nuances of this relationship. While music and dance are intimately, and inextricably, connected, this connection is easily distorted on jobs. “Can we say that dancers are earning the way they should be? No. Can we say that dancers are benefitting the way they should be? Absolutely not. The economy speaks for itself” Bontle, one of the competition’s judges, reminded us. This sentiment was reiterated throughout our conversations. “I feel like dancers don’t get enough credit”. Especially important in discussions surrounding pay because, as NSG reminded us, “everyone’s gotta eat”. “I think things are slowly changing,” HomeBros reflected, citing Sean Bankhead and Shay Latukolan as two “trailblazers” for the dance industry, but there’s still “a long way to go”. Balancing this awareness with a genuine love of the arts, Red Bull Bring The Vim celebrated diasporic African art while, simultaneously, demonstrating the potential of successful (and equal!) collaboration between the music and dance industries.
This optimistic perspective was reflected across our conversations, as the event’s key figures were eager to share their hopes for music and dance’s future partnerships. HomeBros emphasised the importance of “mutual respect”. “There should be more respect for each other’s art form… our art forms have a lot of importance to each other and they’re both very serious so show love to both”. Awareness and reciprocity also emerged as key themes, with Bontle stressing that “you can’t have the music without the dance or the dance without the music”.
Bring The Vim was a necessary celebration of this intimate coexistence - a coexistence that Afro creative cultures are firmly rooted in. And, while acknowledging that industry changes are still necessary to catch the jobs up to the culture, the people at Bring The Vim were doing the work to make them. The genuine excitement that characterised the night highlighted a powerful joy, and set out a possible way forwards…Best summarised by NSG, “UK, we need more positivity… more Vim”.