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Chris Reyes (Hip Hop Dance, 2019)

Chris Reyes

Shortlisted in 2019 for Hip Hop Dance

London-based is a hip-hop artist whose interdisciplinary practice explores culture, identity, and human connection within modern society. A British-born Filipino, Reyes’ work is heavily influenced by the uplifts and struggles of his life experience and he aims to use art to heighten awareness of the diverse cultures in the UK.

As a dancer, Reyes is largely self-taught. Thanks to support from organisations such as Artists4Artists and Redbridge Drama Centre, he has been able to create projects such as CARAVAN, a series of works which aim to inject culture into disconnected communities that are diminishing as a result of gentrification. Reyes’ upbringing playing classical and jazz music has allowed him to incorporate live sound elements into his work. In CARAVAN the live music and hip-hop theatre communities are brought together, an area he sees as having massive potential for growth.

Another focus of Reyes’ practice is the sense of disconnection between British-born Filipinos and their cultural origins in the Philippines. Having conducted an international project that reached out to migrated Filipino families, he is keen to examine the cultural transformations that these families have undergone through migration, and the lasting effect it has on them and future generations.