The Story of Breaking Bach Review 5*
The Story of Breaking Bach documents a life-enhancing journey that brought together Bach’s music and urban street dance
This article was first published on London Unattached
In the summer of 2025 a packed Usher Hall in Edinburgh rose as one to acclaim a daring, unique marriage of two, on the surface antithetical, art forms: the sophisticated baroque music of J.S.Bach and the visceral street dance of disaffected urban youth – hip hop or break dancing.
The one-off show, entitled Breaking Bach and definitely one of the highlights of the Edinburgh International Festival, marked the culmination of an ambitious, life-enhancing journey, which has now been documented in The Story of Breaking Bach, a fascinating 50-minute film available to stream exclusively on Marquee TV.
Breaking Bach is the product of a collaboration between the veteran London-based Danish choreographer and film-maker Kim Brandstrup, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) and the Acland Burghley School in north London, a remarkable comprehensive, where the arts are very much part of the curriculum. The Story of Breaking Bach, an intelligent and thoroughly engaging film, directed by Brandstrup himself, tells the story of that journey by interspersing long sequences of the Edinburgh performance with footage from rehearsals and interviews with the participants.
The first seeds were sown in 2019 when the OEA moved its base to the Acland Burghley School and, in the words of the orchestra CEO, Crispin Woodhead, “our music became the sound of the playground.”
Quite separately, Kim Brandstrup had been toying with the idea of choreographing to Bach’s music, which he describes as “the most beautiful music in the world”, for which he has had “a lifelong love”.
He had used hip hop dancers in a couple of previous opera productions, and had choreographed on Bach’s music, notably in the award-winning ballet Goldberg, set to the ‘Goldberg Variations’; but the idea of joining Bach and hip hop came out of a chance post-lockdown encounter with Crispin Woodhead.
That’s when music, choreographer and dancers came together, with pupils from Acland Burghley School joining seasoned professional dancers in a 13-strong cast, featuring dancers extraordinaire Nafisah Baba, Tommy Franzen and Deavion Brown. Brown (who performs in the cast of Ebony Scrooge at Sadler’s Wells East), gets associate choreographer credit, along with Franzen and Seirian Griffiths. The dancers joined the musicians of OAE and together they embarked on a journey which, according to the youngsters featured in the film, has completely upended their approach to music
Take 14-year-old Jeriah. A proficient hip hopper, he hadn’t come across Bach, or indeed, much classical music, before. But now, after being part of Breaking Bach, whenever he hears classical music, he actually listens and finds his body wanting to move to it. In his words, “every time you listen to it, you hear something new, that you hadn’t heard before and that I find very special”
The secret is in the rhythm. Brandstrup notes that young hip hop dancers are possessed of unique “rhythmic literacy” and that predisposes them to deal with the speed and complexity of Bach’s music.
He explains how he starts them off not with the music itself, but by enacting the beat and the rhythm; and only once they’ve moved to that does he play them the music. A sequence filmed in a rehearsal clearly illustrates that process.
The information is dotted between long sequences filmed during the actual performance, and they are enthralling.
Ellie Wintour’s set design is simple, but effective. The orchestra is placed upstage on a platform with a low mirrored back fascia, that provides an expansive feeling, multiplying the dancers’ bodies and movement.
And in front there’s the empty stage where the dancers show off their moves.
In the run up to the Edinburgh premiere, I was privileged to attend a working session of Breaking Bach in the school’s impressive dance studio, as well as a final general rehearsal, still at the school, and I noted then: “ I hadn’t felt so thrilled and energised in a very long time.”
I relived all that watching this film, which brought back the sense of “an exhilarating performance, the energy of which never flags, though that’s not to say there’s no light and shade – there is – or that he orchestra plays second fiddle to the dancers – it doesn’t, on the contrary it’s very much present.”
In The Story of Breaking Bach OAE violin leader, Matthew Truscott , describes Bach’s music as “a constant mind-blowing, heart-rending delight” – and so, indeed, is this extraordinary show.
We can only hope 2026 offers Breaking Bach a London stage before too long; meanwhile, though, I thoroughly recommend viewing The Story of Breaking Bach on Marquee TV..
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image: Breaking Bach. Photo credit: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Marquee TV)
The Story of Breaking Bach is streaming exclusively on Marquee TV. Access here – subscription required.