The Nutcracker meets hip-hop

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A recent California Philharmonic performance of The Nutcracker featured a trio of hip-hop dancers who added their own unique twist to the tunes of Tchaikovsky’s ballet.

Kevin “Konkrete” Davis, Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer and James “B-Dash” Derrick, all former participants on So You Think You Can Dance, drew applause and laughter from over 1,000 concertgoers as they performed choreography to songs like “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies.”

This blend of classical ballet and contemporary hip-hop was organized by California Philharmonic maestro Victor Vener, who told Buzzfeed News that the idea was born from a desire to showcase “hip-hop dancers doing pinwheels and doing 21st street dance instead of the Russians doing 19th century street dance.”