This Spring, pioneering street dance company THREE60 present World’s Evolution – the first Scottish Hip Hop tour to take place in half a decade.
Presented by creative and cultural force THREE60 (founded in 2013 by Divine Tasinda, Kemono L.Riot, Adam McMillan and Levent Nyembo to champion Street and African Diasporic dance forms), World’s Evolution is grounded in the deep grooves of African dance, combined with a dynamic fusion of street styles such as Hip-Hop, Krump, and Popping.
We sat down with Divine and Kemono to discover more!
Q: Tell us about your work World’s Evolution? i.e. where did it start and why?
Kemono L. Riot: THREE60 formed as a company in 2013. We wanted to highlight the dance industry in Scotland and put a spotlight on the work that we were doing with Street and African Diasporic dance forms.
Divine Tasinda: The inspiration for World’s Evolution came from wanting to create a theatre show that expands people’s perspective of what Hip-Hop is — as a dance style, as a culture and as an art form.
As a show, it grew out of past works that we have been part of through THREE60. We wanted to bring them together to create a message that would bring communities together through love, unity and family. These are the foundations of what THREE60 is.
Q: How do you think different movement cultures help shape the world?
Divine Tasinda: As Africans, there’s always going to be a connection that brings us back to our roots.
Kemono L. Riot: Out of the 4 directors involved in World’s Evolution – Adam McMillan, Divine Tasinda, Levent Nyembo and myself – three of us are Congolese. Congo is known for its rich music and dance. Movement and music are where we express ourselves.
Divine Tasinda: The beautiful thing about dance is storytelling. For example, a lot of African traditional dances are born from day to day activities. It’s a way of communicating, expressing and sharing messages.
Hip-Hop was created at a time when the African diaspora didn’t feel heard, as they didn’t have space to express themselves. Dance, movement and music has always been used as a form of storytelling – as a way of communicating messages. This is our opportunity to tell our story, here.
Q: This is the first Scottish Hip-Hop tour to take place in half a decade – what does it mean to bring this work to Scottish audiences?
Divine Tasinda: Currently we believe we are the only company in Scotland who is regularly giving paid opportunities to Hip-Hop artists in Scotland, so we hope to inspire generations of Hip-Hop and street dance artists on tour – showing them what is possible.
We are taking a large cast of dancers – some emerging, some more experienced – across Scotland and that’s exciting for us. World’s Evolution is ultimately a show that brings together different shows that THREE60 has developed over the past 10 years, on our journey as choreographers and directors.
It is a privilege to tour and be able to bring this offering to audiences across Scotland. We are honoured to be able to represent Hip-Hop as a movement, a culture, an art form and we take every moment as a chance to share and connect.
Q: Can you tell us about the community engagement you’ll be doing?
Divine Tasinda: THREE60 was born out of a community of dancers from marginalised backgrounds, coming together. It allowed us to be in a safe space and express ourselves, so that is something we carry across all of our work; it is at the heart of THREE60.
Our aim throughout this tour is to create those safe spaces for more people, and connect in a way that feels authentic.
We’ll be doing that by touring the show across Scotland, and also delivering talks and workshops across each venue and their community too. For us, when we say community, we are talking about all areas of community. For example, every area we are going to is a community. Scotland is a community. For us the mission doesn’t change. Our mission is to give Hip-Hop the space it deserves, for it to be cherished and for it to be seen as equal across art forms.
Q: What’s next for you?
Divine Tasinda and Kemono L. Riot: We want to grow THREE60’s presence across more cities in Scotland and perform internationally. A big part of our vision is embedding ourselves deeper within youth communities and building a real ecosystem — one where young people can come through THREE60 and access stable pathways into the entertainment industry.
That includes developing a dance academy and an agency; a space where people can properly learn Hip-Hop and African diasporic dance styles, build the right connections, and gain real access to jobs and opportunities.
Ultimately, we want THREE60 to stand as its own entity — something sustainable that can grow and thrive beyond the current directors. First showcased at Dance International Glasgow (DIG) in 2022 and reimagined at Platform in 2025, the latest iteration of World’s Evolution will open at Cumbernauld Theatre on Saturday 28 February, before touring across Scotland until Thursday 23 April 2026.
To find out more, visit:
https://www.three60.org.uk/events