This thesis examines new ways of working with hip hop dance artists in the space of UK dance
theatre from an artist-led, practice research perspective. The evolution of praxis that is explored
is based on three studio projects: the BLOCK project (2015), two micro projects (2017) and the
final exposition (2018). The research examines the dialogic relationship between the
movement(s) of hip hop dance artists in the space of UK dance theatre and historico-temporal,
sociocultural, political and economic forces conceptualised as the UK hip hop dance theatre
(HHDT) ‘metaspace’. In doing so, it asks why, how, when and where dance takes place in the
UK, who is granted access to it and under what conditions. Responding to the metaspatial
forces that it critiques, the research develops the role of the choreodramaturg as an explicitly
politicised practitioner who responds to the metaspace by invoking processual turbulence and
unsteadiness in the studio. The research process is informed by an evolving theoretical
framework that draws on cultural theory, dramaturgy, hip hop dance theory, contemporary
dance theory and performance politics. In particular, Edward Soja’s (1996) concept of
Thirdspace was influential in developing a processual Thirdspace model for HHDT. Additionally,
the research draws on artist journals and interviews conducted with a range of UK hip hop
dance/theatre practitioners as key means of bringing practitioner voices into the research
project. In this thesis I argue that complex metaspatial conditions play a supervisory role in
choreographic outputs of HHDT artists in the UK. Furthermore, the practice research
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demonstrates that the development of metaspatial knowledge can be an intrinsic part of
choreographic practice and a processual tool that is capable of challenging such conditions.