Benji Reid

Benji Reid joined Broken Glass Street Crew, the celebrated group winners of the GLC Breakdance Champions in 1985, and for two years danced on tours of clubs and theatres around Europe. He went on to study at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and in 1986 won the European Body-popping Championships and was ranked second in the World Dance Championships. After college Benji joined the Dundee Rep and TAG Theatre in Scotland, performing in the dance theatre production of the Tempest. In 1989 Benji worked with the legendary Soul II Soul as the main dancer and choreographer for their World Tour, appearing on the Arsenio Hall Show and playing at the Soul Train Awards. After Soul II Soul Benji worked widely as a physical theatre actor with such highly regarded companies as the David Glass Ensemble, Trestle Theatre and Black Mime Theatre before beginning to explore a solo career as a performer, devisor and director.

Benji Reid joined Broken Glass Street Crew, the celebrated group winners of the GLC Breakdance Champions in 1985, and for two years danced on tours of clubs and theatres around Europe. He went on to study at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and in 1986 won the European Body-popping Championships and was ranked second in the World Dance Championships. After college Benji joined the Dundee Rep and TAG Theatre in Scotland, performing in the dance theatre production of the Tempest. In 1989 Benji worked with the legendary Soul II Soul as the main dancer and choreographer for their World Tour, appearing on the Arsenio Hall Show and playing at the Soul Train Awards. After Soul II Soul Benji worked widely as a physical theatre actor with such highly regarded companies as the David Glass Ensemble, Trestle Theatre and Black Mime Theatre before beginning to explore a solo career as a performer, devisor and director. Benji directed his first main stage play, the hip-hop musical Avalanche for Nottingham Playhouse in 1998 and in 1999 co-directed Jonzi D’s Aeroplane Man and toured ‘Paper Jackets,’ a one-man show he wrote and starred in. This became the beginning of BREAKING CYCLES the company. Since then the artistic team has broadened with all the company’s work being created in close collaboration with Steve Ojay as Musical Director, and Mikey Wilson and Master Wong as Musicians. Together, the team is committed to the development of HIP HOP THEATRE, combining movement, music and the language of break-dance and body popping with the theatricality of text and movement theatre. In 2000, Breaking Cycles became a Yorkshire Dance Partner and created ‘The Waiting Room’, a trilogy of new work that he toured in the UK and internationally alongside three musicians. Early in 2002, Breaking Cycles presented The Pugilist at the British Dance Edition showcase. Since then the company has performed to sellout audiences in Brazil, New Zealand, at the Royal Opera House, London and the Sydney Opera House, Australia, with the full repertoire of work; The Pugilist, The Holiday, Style 4 Free, 13 Mics and B Like Water. Breaking Cycles has also recently undertaken a three-week run at the Lyric Hammersmith, London as part of the ongoing tour, and played to a sellout audience of 1800 as part of Breakin’ Convention Hip Hop Festival at Sadlers Wells, London. As a creative producer, devisor and director, Benji has continued to develop and establish himself as a solo artist. He has received a number of collaborative commissions including: Dramaturg and Director for Life of a B-boy with Spearfish and Funkstylers; Dramaturn for The Solar Power by Full Circle at New World Theatre, New York; Co-director with Michael Field of Playback NYC’s Hip Hop Comedia Project within the HHTF Critical Breaks Workshop Series; Choreographer of Seven, directed by Steven Sapp, written by Will Power, at Iowa University, USA; Choreographer and co-director of Slamdunk, a new hip-hop musical about brotherhood beats and basketball with Felix Cross of NITRO; Lead actor and Movement Director in Ragamuffin, on national tour in the UK; Creator of Peaches for ACE Dance’s 2002 UK national tour; Co-creator and Director of Conversing With Angels for Qasim Riza Shahee; and Movement Director for Storm a play by Lemn Sissay at Contact Theatre, Manchester. Benji is a well known improvisational persona, performing as a popular solo guest act in mixed bill evenings, such as The Place’s Elbow Room with John Hegley, Jonzi D’s Apricot Jam’s, ADAD evenings and Speakeasy. Benji is currently in receipt of the NESTA Dreamtime Fellowship, awarded to prestigious artists for their outstanding achievements and continuing development and was also recently nominated for the Art05 award for his work in the Northwest of England.

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7/11/05: DC Hip Hop Theater Festival: Benji Reid

DC Hip Hop Theater Festival: Accompanied by 3 musicians and a DJ, Manchester, England's Benji Reid in 13 Mics uses freestyle body popping to transport himself from mic to mic and becomes a “human sampler” creating a modern hip-hop track.

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