Spanish-born Blanca Li came across Elektro Kif by chance while walking through a park in Paris.

She became fascinated by this new movement, a French development of street dance, with which she was already familiar.

She studied the performers, and selecting the most exciting of them, in 2010 she founded a company to display the talents of eight of the best of these dancers.

“This dance started in the discotheques of Paris, but after a while they also went into the street to dance; and then they used to meet in studios to rehearse and compete.

“Competition is very much a part of the way these dancers exist, and it was hard to separate that from the dance that I wanted them to do.

“I had to take dancers who had this incredible style — so fresh, so new — but didn’t have the training or the background of professional dancers.

“Also, they are used to performing as individuals and competing with each other as individuals, and they were completely unused to being supervised or directed in any way.

“So I rehearsed with them for eight hours a day, which was very demanding for them, but we did get the result I wanted”.

“As far as the performance is concerned, these kids are incredible dancers, but I had to make sure I created with them something they could say there were proud of, something true to their style, but at the same time suitable to be put on the stage.

“I was worried that, if I did something they didn’t like, they would not feel represented in their dance, and this might later create difficulties with the production.

“I had to give these dances a theatrical context and dramatic situations, and make them into a show, but at the same time I had to respect what this dance form is, so that the audience can see what electro-dance is, and also I had to keep the freshness and the beauty of their dance-style.”

The dancers themselves are the experts here, but they’re used to performing as individuals, and competing with each other as individuals.

Given what a would-be director would consider these disadvantages, I wondered how much input they had been able to provide for the finished show.

“We worked very much in collaboration, because I really wanted to get the best out of them.

Gradually I got them working together; we did lots of improvisation and I also had to get them moving around the stage, because usually when they’re performing they dance alone on one spot.

“Also I had to get them to move together, which is something they had never attempted. There are times now when they are all even doing the same step.

“This was a slow process. I also I had to make the dance bigger, more expansive, and I used the stage until the movement became almost lyrical.”

Electro Kif is at The Playhouse next Tuesday.