Continuing
with his originality and trend-setting achievements, OutKast’s Big
Boi spoke with American Public Media on his latest project, ‘BIG’,
being the first ever hip-hop ballet.
Admitting
the first time he had seen ballet was in elementary school, the Atlanta-based
rapper explained his interest of applying a hip-hop theme to the format
after being approached by the dance group Atlanta Ballet.
“To
put that to dance, to something as calm as a ballet and you get different
types of music for them to dance to—I think long as the beat’s there
and they can feel the music, that they’re really gonna dig it man.
[I]t’s gonna be electrifying,” he said.
Doing
her research, Atlanta Ballet’s resident choreographer Lauri Stallings
listened to every OutKast single ever released.
“OutKast
is just a huge engine, and it’s a very good car—it’s a Rolls Royce.
I got to go inside that world and discuss with Big [Boi] what part of
the engine we wanted to use,” Stallings confessed.
Speaking
on his first meeting and song selection process with Stallings, Big
Boi explained the strength of iPods and one track that instantly won
the choreographer’s attention.
“I
started flipping through my catalog and—started to play songs.
And she was like, ‘Oh my God, I want to use that one!’ And I was
like, ‘Really?’ And that was ‘Kryptonite’,” he said.
Summing
up the idea of his hip-hop ballet performance, Big Boi expressed his
excitement in putting together such diverse formats.
“You
have two different forms of art coming together to make one feature.
You got distinction and the elegance and the sophistication of the ballet
with the funk of me and my band and what we do—as long as I don’t
get hit with one of those tutu shoes,” he said jokingly.
With
six performances of ‘BIG’ continuing through Sunday exclusively
in Atlanta, the chances of a citywide tour may likely be based on overall
sales.
Reported By Cyrus Langhorne