Beware anyone who tells you that what they do for fun has, like, a philosophy behind it. Ignoring martial artists, who’ll use this pretence to disguise that they essentially like fighting, and you are left with assorted windsurfers, cycle couriers and “circus skill” types. They’re all shysters ... tedious shysters with tans and toned, muscular physiques.
In Brighton, Alister O’Loughlin runs the Urban Playground, a dance troupe that incorporates parkour into performances — parkour being the original French form of free-running, in which participants athletically overcome physical, mainly urban obstacles. It has, he explains, a philosophy behind it ... yet, toned as he is, O’Loughlin is no shyster. Indeed, last year Urban Playground performed to more than 40,000 people worldwide, and today they’re rehearsing a new routine on their mobile scaffolding-cum-adventure playground.
“When you go on most British parkour websites, the emphasis is about how far people can jump, which is competitive and isn’t what parkour is about at all,” he explains (philosophy). Instead, there’s a playful elegance to today’s four-person routine. “JP” Omari is a breakdancer who’ll finish moves with a backflip. Janine Fletcher’s background is burlesque, a heritage hinted at by the places she can place her legs. Miranda Henderson is a dainty choreographer and O’Loughlin, wonderfully, doubles as a trained Elizabethan swordsman. They are, in other words, a nicely mixed bag — a dirty dozen of dance, or fraction thereof.
Henderson explains how, after performances, audience members say, “You made it look easy”, which is weird because it looks really difficult. Catch your feet during a vault and you’re treated to a “faceplant” (aka “a concrete facial”). Would I like a go, they ask? I’m really clumsy, I say. I fall over putting on socks.
“Don’t worry,” Henderson smiles. “What parkour says in terms of its philosophy is that you find your own path.”
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I start with a few rolls on the ground, a parkour basic that transfers the potential energy of a landing into kinetic energy rather than crunching impact. Next, I’m told to find a way past a waist-high metal bar. After shimmying underneath groin-first, O’Loughlin demonstrates a more efficient way over using physics, common sense and grace. I try twice, and inadvertently slam some of the set sideways.
“Once more?” O’Loughlin asks, hopefully. I do it again and land in a pile. It’s fun, but I’m no good at it. I don’t mind. I’m philosophical.
www.theurbanplayground.co.uk