INTERVIEW | ILL-ABILITIES RETURN TO BREAKIN’ CONVENTION ACROSS THE UK WITH BROKEN SOURCE

Photo cred­it: Belinda Lawley

As Breakin’ Con­ven­tion returns with its 2026 pro­gramme and UK tour, few crews embody its glob­al, bound­ary-push­ing spir­it quite like ILL-Abil­it­ies. Known for rede­fin­ing what break­ing can look like on stage, the inter­na­tion­ally renowned col­lect­ive brings their latest work Broken Source to Lon­don before tak­ing it across the country.

Cre­ated as a duet between Red­ou­an ‘Redo’ Ait Chitt and Brazili­an B‑boy Samuka, Broken Source explores iden­tity, resi­li­ence and the idea that what is often seen as “broken” can in fact be a source of strength. While Samuka, who lost his leg at 14, does not speak Eng­lish flu­ently, the two artists developed the work and its ideas closely togeth­er, with Redo speak­ing on behalf of the collaboration.

In this con­ver­sa­tion, Redo reflects on the crew’s long-stand­ing rela­tion­ship with Breakin’ Con­ven­tion, the evol­u­tion of hip hop theatre, and how ILL-Abil­it­ies con­tin­ue to chal­lenge per­cep­tion through move­ment, storytelling and unapo­lo­get­ic authenticity.

You are return­ing to Breakin’ Con­ven­tion with a new work. What does this plat­form mean to ILL-Abil­it­ies at this stage in your journey?

Breakin’ Con­ven­tion has been part of our story for many years. It’s one of the first plat­forms that really embraced what we were doing in a the­at­ric­al way. We per­formed in 2012, 2013, 2014 + the UK tour and in 2023. In 2013 we we’re even nom­in­ated for an Olivi­er Award in the cat­egory ‘Out­stand­ing Achieve­ment in Dance’.

Com­ing back to the fest­iv­al almost feels like com­ing home. It’s such a lovely team to work with and this year also doing the UK tour we are super excited to meet people and oth­er tal­ent through­out the country!

Breakin’ Con­ven­tion has played a major role in shap­ing hip hop theatre glob­ally. Why do you think spaces like this still mat­ter today?

Plat­forms like Breakin’ Con­ven­tion give those stor­ies a stage without dilut­ing them. It’s always a great mix between estab­lished artists and new and upcom­ing tal­ent. The core is still hip hop but it’s great to see it’s evolve­ment with­in the cul­ture and still keep­ing it groun­ded and authentic.

You are com­ing back by pop­u­lar demand. What do you think audi­ences con­nect with most when they see ILL-Abil­it­ies live?

I think people con­nect with the hon­esty and the heart we pore into this dance. Of course there’s the skill, tech­nique, and the phys­ic­al aspect, but what really stays with people is the human side. Vul­ner­ab­il­ity, resi­li­ence and chan­ging per­cep­tion. And over­all we just want to show incred­ible dancing.

Has your mis­sion or mes­sage changed since the early days of the crew?

The core hasn’t changed, but the way we express it has def­in­itely evolved. Over the years, our work has expan­ded far bey­ond just per­form­ing. We’re act­ive in theatre, com­pet­i­tions, judging, teach­ing, motiv­a­tion­al speak­ing, com­mer­cial, organ­iz­ing events, and even politics.

The crew has also grown. Today we are eight dan­cers rep­res­ent­ing six dif­fer­ent coun­tries, and each mem­ber is not only part of the col­lect­ive but also build­ing their own career in their home coun­try. Every­one brings a high level of per­form­ance and a unique perspective.

So while the mis­sion remains the same, the way we live it and share it with the world has become much broad­er and more layered.

Broken Source premi­eres at the fest­iv­al before head­ing out across the UK. What is the core idea behind the piece?

At its core, Broken Source explores where our strength really comes from. We often see broken­ness as some­thing neg­at­ive, but for us, it’s also the start­ing point, the source of cre­ativ­ity, iden­tity, and move­ment. It’s about embra­cing the parts of ourselves and with this piece we encour­age people to do the same.

The title sug­gests some­thing frac­tured but also found­a­tion­al. What does Broken Source mean to you?

To me, it reflects the idea that what we con­sider “broken” is actu­ally part of our found­a­tion. Our exper­i­ences, our chal­lenges, our dif­fer­ences, they shape how we move, how we think, how we cre­ate. It’s not about fix­ing some­thing, but about recog­niz­ing its value.

This is a duet rather than a full crew piece. What drew you to a more stripped back format?

ILL-Abil­it­ies is an inter­na­tion­al crew, with each dan­cer based in their own coun­try spread across six dif­fer­ent parts of the world. Every­one has their own sched­ule and com­mit­ments, so com­ing togeth­er as a full group isn’t always easy.

Because of that, we often work in smal­ler form­a­tions. It allows us to be more flex­ible, to reach more places, and to keep cre­at­ing con­sist­ently. But bey­ond the prac­tic­al side, there’s also some­thing excit­ing about it artist­ic­ally. A duet gives us the chance to cre­ate some­thing more intim­ate and focused, and to offer work that feels unique and tailored to each con­text we step into.

How did the col­lab­or­a­tion come togeth­er cre­at­ively, espe­cially work­ing across dif­fer­ent coun­tries and experiences? 
It was def­in­itely a chal­lenge. Samuka has been on a world tour, per­form­ing with Her­vé Koubi’s com­pany in Sol Invictus, and at the same time I was busy in the Neth­er­lands film­ing and present­ing a dance TV show. So find­ing time to cre­ate togeth­er wasn’t easy.

On top of that, we didn’t have ded­ic­ated fund­ing for the cre­ation, so we really had to invest in it ourselves. We used per­form­ances along the way to help fin­ance the pro­cess, and made the most of every moment we could spend together.

In between travels and tours, Samuka came to the Neth­er­lands and we focused on rehears­ing as much as pos­sible. We even man­aged to organ­ize a try-out, which was import­ant for us to test the piece in front of a live audi­ence and feel how it con­nects. It was a pro­cess built on com­mit­ment, flex­ib­il­ity, and really mak­ing it work des­pite the circumstances.

ILL-Abil­it­ies has always chal­lenged per­cep­tions around abil­ity and move­ment. How does Broken Source push that con­ver­sa­tion forward?

This piece moves bey­ond just what you see phys­ic­ally. It’s not only about abil­ity or dis­ab­il­ity, but it’s about iden­tity, ori­gin, and per­cep­tion. We invite the audi­ence to look deep­er, to ques­tion their assump­tions, not just about us, but also about themselves.

How import­ant is it for you to rep­res­ent real lived exper­i­ences on stage without being defined by them?

It’s very import­ant. Our exper­i­ences shape us, but they don’t lim­it us. On stage, we want to be fully human and not reduced to a label or a story. It’s about bal­ance: being hon­est about where we come from, while also show­ing that we are more than that.

Break­ing comes from battles and cyphers. What excites you about trans­lat­ing that into a theatre setting?

What we love about theatre is the space it gives you to really take your time and tell a story. Move­ment trans­lates very dif­fer­ently on a stage through light­ing, atmo­sphere, and struc­ture. You can build some­thing more layered and intentional.

For us, it’s actu­ally refresh­ing to step away from the battle or cypher when we’re in a theatre set­ting. Those spaces are about energy, exchange, and quick go downs, while theatre allows for reflec­tion and depth in a dif­fer­ent way. It chal­lenges us as dan­cers to explore new dimen­sions of our craft.

That con­trast is what excites us most, being able to carry the essence of break­ing into a com­pletely dif­fer­ent envir­on­ment, and dis­cov­er­ing what it can become there.

How do you stay true to hip hop found­a­tions while build­ing nar­rat­ive-driv­en work?

The nar­rat­ive is just anoth­er lay­er. If the found­a­tion is real, the story will feel real too.

This tour reaches cit­ies across the UK, from major hubs to smal­ler scenes. Why is it import­ant for work like this to travel so widely? 

Because hip hop is uni­ver­sal and can fit in every­where. It’s not just the big cit­ies or estab­lished scenes. Bring­ing the work to dif­fer­ent places cre­ates new con­nec­tions, new conversations.

The beauty about the fest­iv­al is that you don’t have to be a hiphop head to enjoy the per­form­ances. Any­one can relate and be surprised!

Do dif­fer­ent audi­ences respond dif­fer­ently to your work, or is the reac­tion uni­ver­sal?

Both. The way people express it might dif­fer, but the feel­ing is often the same. The themes we touch on are uni­ver­sal and human.

This year’s lineup includes works like TRAPLORD by Ivan Black­stock, which explores mas­culin­ity and men­tal health. Do you feel hip hop theatre is becom­ing more reflect­ive and socially engaged?

I feel hip hop has always been reflect­ive and socially engaged that’s how it star­ted in the first place. It’s a way of express­ing through move­ment, words, music, visu­als and it’s great to see many artists address­ing every­day themes through­out their work.

Where do you see the future of hip hop theatre heading?

I see it mov­ing into more struc­tured and estab­lished spaces, with grow­ing interest from the clas­sic­al and insti­tu­tion­al world. There are more cros­sov­ers hap­pen­ing between hip hop theatre, dance, even oth­er art forms and that’s open­ing new doors.

At the same time, I don’t think hip hop theatre is fully nor­m­al­ised yet in many places. It’s still grow­ing into those spaces. But you can clearly see the shift… more plat­forms, more recog­ni­tion, and more diverse audi­ences enga­ging with the work.

What do you want audi­ences to take away from Broken Source?

I want people to leave with a dif­fer­ent per­spect­ive on them­selves, on oth­ers. To see strength in places they once saw weak­ness. To feel some­thing real, to see the beauty of move­ment and to feel touched and inspired.

When the tour fin­ishes in June, what would suc­cess look like for you as a crew?

Suc­cess would be con­nec­tion. If we’ve moved people, star­ted con­ver­sa­tions, left a mark every place we went. And if we inspired even one per­son to look at them­selves dif­fer­ently. And for us as a crew, con­tinu­ing to grow togeth­er and keep the move­ment going!

Tour dates for Breakin’ Convention

1–4 May Breakin’ Con­ven­tion Fest­iv­al at Sadler’s Wells, Lon­don https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/breakin-convention-festival-2026/
9 May The Mar­lowe, Can­ter­bury https://marlowetheatre.com/shows/breakin-convention‑3/

12 May Tyne Theatre & Opera House, New­castle https://www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/whatson/breakin-convention-tour-2026/
15 & 16 May Roy­al Con­cert Hall, Not­ting­ham https://trch.co.uk/whats-on/breakin-convention/
20 May Bel­grade Theatre, Cov­entry https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/breakin-convention/
23 May Tram­way, Glas­gow https://www.tramway.org/event/f1eb772a-ea09-4b69-ac7e-b39b009ba20e/
27 May Brighton Dome, Brighton + fam­ily mat­inée https://brightondome.org/whats-on/Lll-breakin-convention/
30 May Light­house, Poole + fam­ily mat­inée https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/event/breakin-convention-2026/
3 June CAST, Don­caster https://www.castindoncaster.com/events/breakin-convention-international-festival-of-hip-hop-dance-theatre/
6 June The Grand, Black­pool https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/breakin-convention

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Rishma

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds

Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voiceless.

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