Duran, aka Dee Dee, presents a thrilling showcase of Shway-Style, an intricate, full-body dance technique devised by the late choreographer and director Adolfo ‘Shabba-Doo’ Quiñones.
In CALL OUT, multidisciplinary artist, performer and choreographer Duran Abdullah presents a deeply personal portrait of inner anguish and psychological distortion. “I’m fascinated by our ability to construct our own prisons in order to escape the one that society and, frequently, others and ourselves limit us to,” she says of the piece. “Our demons are reflected in everything we do and create, and I believe that when we make space for our darkness without judgement, we may also lead ourselves into true liberation.”
Featuring a speaker-rattling score from producer Krush Juke, CALL OUT is at the same time a thrilling showcase of Shway-Style, an intricate, full-body dance technique devised by the late choreographer and director Adolfo ‘Shabba-Doo’ Quiñones. The style is a fusion of punking, a form of expression developed by underground dancers in the gay community during the early ’70s known as the Original Waack Dancers, aka Punks or Garbo Boys, and the street dance styles of Locking and Soul Dance.
Evolving over 40 years, Quiñones describes Shway-Style as “the worlds first bi-sexual street dance”, conceiving of the technique as a means of translating spiritual, emotional and psychological energy into physical dance forms. Duran Abdullah was exclusively trained by Quiñones back in 2014 and is now developing her on style, Shway Style UK, and has spent the last seven years “training and educating her company of elite Shway students to build a community of dancer’s that will go on to preserve Shabba-Doo’s legacy and evolve the art form of Shway.”
For more information about Duran Abdullah and Shway Style UK you can visit her website and find her on Instagram.
CALL OUT Credits:
Director, Choreographer, Dancer – Duran Abdullah
Editor – Duran Abdullah
Colourist – Q Nguyen
Music – Krush Juke
Styling, Hair, MUA – Duran Abdullah
Custom Designs – Duran Abdullah
Balaclavas – Bean Baby
Dancers – Duran Abdullah, Ellie Harulow, Nicola Mac
Stills Photography – Lorena Andrés
Project Support – Ivan Michael Blackstock
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