The festival celebrating hiphop rooted dance culture
October 22 > 26, 2024 | L’Estive, national theatre Foix and Ariège
October 24 > 27, 2024 | Casa Musicale, Perpignan
December 6 > 8, 2024 | Théâtre d’O & Halle Tropisme, Montpellier
A celebration of dances stemming from hiphop culture in all its forms: welcome to the second edition of the HYPE OCC festival, inspired by camin aktion and carried out in cooperation with two new partners, L’Estive – National Theater of Foix and Ariège with its first highlight, the Block Party, and Casa Musicale in Perpignan. December 2024, a second edition will take place in Montpellier.
Performances, workshops, documentary films, bootcamp, talks, photo exhibition… with dance at the center, of course, and a spotlight on other hiphop art forms: slam, MCing, spray can art.
Hiphop culture, with its multitude of expressions and dance in all its forms, is circulating in Occitanie and invites all audiences!
At the end of 2023, we launched this challenge: to create a new festival in Occitanie. Why?
The artistic offer. Hiphop rooted dances are underrepresented on the theatre stages of the Occitanie region. We aim to create better visibility for these dances in our region for the benefit of the public, with a program that represents the richness and diversity of hiphop rooted choreographic works. The 2024 program connects with the festival, launched in Montpellier in November 2023, to offer the audiences of the counties Ariège and Pyrénées-Orientales strong, committed, and varied performances. To share the richness and values of hiphop culture!
Audiences and inclusion. In the critical discourse, we hear a lot about people who tend not to avail themselves of cultural opportunities. But culture doesn’t only exist in institutions; it is constantly nourished and renewed, creating a beneficial exchange between its informal nature and its most refined forms.
Hiphop culture was born in urban spaces, and despite being marginalized in its beginnings, it has since conquered the world, influencing every aspect of life and expression today.
Hiphop is passed on informally through the “each one teach one” principle – hiphop is inclusive. In this sense, HYPE OCC invites all audiences and encourages us to reconnect. This concerns all generations: hiphop is 50 years old, and it remains a culture with many artistic expressions that resonate with the younger generations. The first edition of the HYPE OCC festival proved it: a diverse audience, packed venues (with an average attendance rate of 93%), and enthusiastic feedback on the positive connection it brought to everyone. Peace, love, harmony – and having fun.
Educating. With its artistic expressions (dance, MCing, slam, DJing, spray can art…), hiphop offers multiple entry points and has become an important vehicle in popular education. The festival is aligned with our committed and solidarity-based approach toward youth: in the first 2023 edition, a quarter of the tickets were offered to disadvantaged families and young people.
We also have a mission to offer new experiences to the audiences: to show the diversity of choreographic creation, to document the origins and contemporary echoes of hiphop culture, to invite people to talks and workshops, to provide tools for understanding and appreciating it, and to develop the audience’s sensitivity. Even better: the multi-entry format of the festival allows you to be a spectator here, to practice there, to participate, and to get involved. It’s another way of approaching cultural and artistic offerings.
Revitalizing: the region of Occitanie is experiencing a talent drain, as many hiphop artists, due to a lack of opportunities in the field of performing arts, migrate to work in other regions. HYPE OCC contributes to the mobility of companies and works within our region. Showcasing creative richness from here and elsewhere also inspires the local scene. We create opportunities for encounters, exchanges, and collaborations with artists from other places, energizing the professional sector in the region.
The festival is part of the RHOCC – HipHop Network Occitanie dynamic.
The bet is on: after a first edition in Montpellier, the festival is fulfilling its promise of regional expansion. Three cities, three counties, three demographic realities… and this is just the beginning!
Festival HYPE OCC is a creation by camin aktion.
The 2024 edition si realized in partnership and co-production between camin aktion, l‘Estive, National Theatre Foix and Ariège, and Casa Musicale Perpignan.
Our regional dimension is part of the dynamic of RHOCC – HipHop Network Occitanie. The 3 festival partners are members of Réseau Danse Occitanie – Dance Network Occitanie.
In Perpignan, the festival is produced by Casa Musicale with the support of City Council of Perpignan, County Pyrénées-Orientales, Region Occitanie, DRAC Occitanie, Préfecture des Pyrénées Orientales and Caisse des Allocations Familiales des Pyrénées Orientales.
In Montpellier, the festival is supported by Région Occitanie, County of Hérault and Direction de région académique à la jeunesse, à l’engagement et aux sports, realized in partnership with Théâtre d’O, Halle Tropisme and Cinema Utopia.
photos : Dirk Korell, Alistair Girardot, Léna Pinon Lang, Stéphane Réthoré, Xavier photodidakt
art design : agence entre/autre