‘You have to add the flavour, the butter, the jam’: Boy Blue on bringing hip hop energy to the dance world
This is how Sandy’s company Boy Blue got so good. Founded in 2001 with composer Michael “Mikey J” Asante, both not long out of school, the company came out of an earlier incarnation, Matrix, a handful of dancers who’d battle against other crews from all over the capital at streetdance events in south London. But while other groups disbanded, or went off to get “proper” jobs, Boy Blue soared.
Music is at the heart of Boy Blue’s creations, and their friendship too. Aged 12, at school in Ilford, east London, Sandy was introduced to Asante with the words: “This guy can beatbox!” At 14, Asante was growing a goatee to try to get into renowned UK garage club Twice As Nice and they’d both go “raving in Ilford”. A sporty kid, Sandy only seriously started dancing at 18.