Sitting in Soho's Golden Sq two summers ago, Gary Nurse, jazz-dance pioneer with IDJ and choreographer extraordinaire is enthusing, bubbling with ideas, Adding to the mix are his brother Seymour, and long-time friend Chris. What's being discussed is the kind of project that would seem to most hopelessly idealistic, unwieldy even. We're talking about bringing together different elements of underground culture, not just music and dance but also theatre, animation, and graphic art. The whole thing seems very conceptual, and there's a mystical/spiritual element to their ideas. 'Pie in the sky', 'dream on' the cynics would say, but with these guys passion and belief are never in short supply. The extended family of West London homeboys they represent have made a frontline contribution to London's club culture by just being there; feeling the jazz at Talkin Loud and Sayin Something, pogoing wildly at High On Hope, their energy has always made a difference, back in the day if these guys were in the dance it meant something. They could always make it happen.



Fast forward to July, and Legends Of The Underground will take place at the Paradiso Amsterdam, and I'm set to be spinning; but the thing is since that day in Golden Sq I've heard virtually nothing about the project, though in the week beforehand it starts to catch up with me. I now know that music has been commissioned from Domu, Mark De Clive- Lowe and Seiji, Domu's made the majority of the beats and Mark the music, with a finale that's all Seiji's. The show will be performed in front of a 3-D animated film, involves thirty dancers from different street disciplines, including a crew of breakers who've come all the way from Korea. The programme for the whole night also looks impressive, upstairs there's the Kindred Spirits showcase with Build An Ark and SA- RA live, in the main room the show combined with d.j. sets from Dego, Seiji and Mikey from the Bugz, and downstairs myself and Cassie 6 will host a session for the dancers.



By the time the Paradiso opens there's a massive buzz, half of London seems to be in the house, Bembe Segue and various members of her band/ Two Banks Of Four have rolled up, and I'm hangin' with Mark De Clive- Lowe who's there to witness his music brought to life. He tells me about how the piece evolved, and that at first he sat there for days with only the intro finished, though eventually the music had just tumbled out of him He also tells me that Seiji's finale is 'mental'! -It's bizarre seeing everyone clutch their 3D glasses; only a small minority of those in the packed room has any idea about what we're going to experience. Suddenly its show- time, the animation springs to life and the music begins, ambient at first then as the beats begin to roll, the dance sequence begins. The next half-hour is a trip. The scenes are tightly choreographed white clad figures whirring across the stage, as behind (?) them super-hero like figures pirouette in sci-fiscapes. It's intense! The dancing is just magical and the whole thing feels epic and totally new but it's not easy to describe! The finale is crazy as Seiji's beats build to a broken electro-crazed gabba-like frenzy; in a way that probably only he could pull-off with such class! The night was undoubtedly memorable, though nothing could quite match the intensity of the show itself. Build An Ark were truly spiritual and demonstrated the proper art of sitting down on stage, and SA-RA were crazy accapella according to Mark, as by that time Cassie and I were deep into a dancers session downstairs.



Gary says that the show was only really a sketch of what it could be, amazingly it had all come together with only four days rehearsal and virtually no money. Eventually it could become a properly integrated three-part story told with animation music and dance, Gary and Seymour already have the story mapped out. If it does reach that level then it really demands to be witnessed in theatres, though as a shorter performance it can really work in a club as the night at the Paradiso proved. There's also plans for a series of comics and Gary when talks about building a collective to be a voice for underground talent you just have give the man his dues, The Legends Of the Underground project has already achieved something extraordinary.