We caught up with Ivan Blackstock, the mastermind behind Out of the System’s CRXSS PLATFXRM, part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2018. He told us a bit about the production’s inception, what to expect, and what it’s like to be performing with Dance Umbrella, ahead of the show opening on Friday 12 October at Shoreditch Town Hall:

“The concept of CRXSS PLATFXRM was conceived in my mind many years ago but it came to life in 2015, early 2016.

Since then we have developed arts projects and events to showcase the latest evolution of UK and international Street Culture. We are really interested in bringing together and showcasing artists from music, dance, art, technology, performance, fashion, and film who have a really different perspectives on how we see Street Culture today. Giving young artists who are emerging or mid-career artists a voice is really important to CRXSS PLATFXRM.

For this upcoming event we wanted to reflect on the new and fresh perspectives coming out of dance, hip-hop and Street Culture now. We will be sprinkling other elements of street culture, so you can get a taste of what CRXSS PLATFXRM also presents.

I think its going to be quite unique and special to reach audiences in Shoreditch and to give them a sense of the raw East London.

Some of these artists are under the radar and you won’t really always get these at a normal dance shows or you won’t really see this on TV – each thing is quite spectacular.

And to sum it up that’s what really excites me as a curator, to share this platform for the audiences coming through Shoreditch Town Hall because they will uncovered and experience another layer of talent that’s coming out of London.”

Book tickets online for CRXSS PLATFXRM, Friday 12 October 2018, here.

Image credit: Camila Greenwell