Urban Arts Ensemble Ruhr & Rauf Yasit (RubberLegz)

Like for many others, HipHop became a place for RubberLegz, aka Rauf Yasit, to escape the dreariness of his everyday life and dream away: Graffiti and tags on the walls appeared to him like cracks behind which completely unknown worlds opened up - like urban dance. Today, nothing works without it. What started as child’s play has long turned into a fiercely contested business for recognition in the international scene, so much has it professionalized.

For "Cracks," Yasit, who lives and works as a sought-after HipHop choreographer in Los Angeles, returns to the country where it all began for him - and embarks on a quest for traces with the Urban Arts Ensemble Ruhr. They resurrect the liberating cracks and dreams from childhood, inquire about the stories that have shaped the bodies of the dancers, and let the present and past meet in a tension-filled dialogue between childlike play and professional ambition, naive curiosity and flawless functionality.

Founded in 2023, the Urban Arts Ensemble Ruhr is Germany's first funded professional ensemble from urban culture. It understands HipHop as a democratic art form and choreographic language of a young, diverse generation. In its productions, it combines street energy with artistic precision - raw, reflective, and radically present.

"An evening full of darkness, anger, and hardness... simultaneously lets you feel the strength of the young dancers, their confidence, and their joy of life." (Deutschlandfunk)
"One rarely experiences so much authenticity on stage. Frenzied applause." (Westdeutsche Zeitung)

Choreography: Rauf Yasit
Choreographic Assistance: Christian Zacharas
Dance: Lisha Chen, Jari Harder, Jonas Krämer, Maksim Kuznetsov, Tonia Kyriakou, Toschkin Schalnich, Melena Tortoh
Stage Design: Aaron Stratmann
Costume Design: Frederike Coors
Sound Design: Kilian Unger
Light Design: Birk-André Hildebrandt
Lighting: Moritz Bütow
Artistic Direction: Zekai Fenerci
Production Assistance: Eva Pageix

"Cracks" is a production by Urban Arts Ensemble Ruhr and Pottporus in cooperation with PACT Zollverein. The Urban Arts Ensemble Ruhr is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of the "Neue Künste Ruhr" program and by the city of Herne.