Photo By Luis Olazabal

Rudi Goblen (left) and Alfredo "Lego" Sotelo speak a universal language in Scratch & Burn.

Certain tensions must reach a critical mass to create compelling performance -- especially to have boundary-crossing appeal. As Teo Castellanos speaks to me on the phone from his home in Miami, I sense that, via a combustible combination of artistic temperaments and streetwise swagger, his D-Projects is bound to bring on the heat.

The contrasting, impassioned worlds of theater and Hip Hop collide in Scratch & Burn -- on stage and off. Expect incendiary break-dancing, spoken word, Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags, projected text and live percussion for starters.

"There's definitely some influences of some other cultural dances (besides break-dancing)," Castellanos says. "I wouldn't say that anything is pure, other than some of the breaking. But even that has been married to stuff like Maori war dances which we kind of pay homage to."

He adds that one ritual-style section is influenced by butoh, a range of highly focused dance techniques of Japanese heritage. Talk about a sharp stylistic contrast!

He laughs."We did receive some training, but I can't say any of us are butoh dancers."

The writer and director of Scratch & Burn is also a veteran solo performer whose numerous onstage and onscreen credits as an actor include the storied Edinburgh Fringe Festival (where his NE 2nd Avenue won the Fringe First Award, the fest's most coveted prize) and a part in the 2002 film Empire starring John Leguizamo and Peter Saarsgard.

In a change of course -- and with a commission and a collaborator to hand -- Castellanos founded D-Projects, his group of five dancers/performers that spawned the evening-length Hip Hop theater piece. His friend and one-time collaborator was break-dance legend Ricardo "Speedy Legs" Fernandez.

The duo auditioned performers from varied backgrounds, from conservatory-trained dancers to street breakdancers aka b-boys. After the original five were hired, there was some turnover during the process of creating the piece. Of the current cast, one is formally trained and the other four are "straight-up b-boys, breakers who are self-trained and trained in the street, for lack of a better word."

Finding the right dancers was no easy task.

"There were challenges," he says. "Some (dancers) came through with what people think Hip Hop is. Like what I would call 'Miami Heat's halftime show,' " he laughs, "which is not really Hip Hop. People tend to confuse Hip Hop with peppery urban dance. It's like people tend to think Hip Hop is rap. You know, it's commercialized bling-bling and that stuff, and that's not at all what it is either."

People speak of chemistry in relationships, but in the case of Scratch & Burn the same elements of strong convictions and streetwise spirit that ignited the collaboration also fueled internal tensions.

Over the next year and a half the dancers underwent extensive training in theatrical arts: discipline ("a big one"), approach, theory, practice and vocal projection. Simultaneously, Castellanos was writing and shaping the work with Speedy Legs choreographing, but only until about halfway through its development.

Castellanos sighs heavily twice.

"How should I put this? He and I knew each other prior to that and were friends. He's a great guy. Ricardo didn't have a lot of theater experience. Throughout the course of the creation of the work he chopped off the process. He found it hard to deal with."

He sighs heartily again before he adds, "There's, I guess, a code of ethics in the b-boy world that sometimes does not translate to the theater world. It takes a different type of approach and training and b-boys really didn't understand the theater world. In that process, Speedy Legs had some conflict with the other boys and decided that he would step down gracefully."

Regarding their differences, he says, "I think it's more personality and to be honest, it might have been more over the work because it can be -- I don't want to say arrogant and confrontational -- it can be cocky, at times."

Chuckling, he adds, "Actually it's all based on competition and challenging other dancers -- and conflict if you will."

Moments later, we return to the subject.

"I'm very sensitive about what I say in reference to Speedy Legs," he says. "Like I said, I have total respect for him, I have mad love for him ... I just wanted to make that clear when this goes to print. I want to be able to show him the article," he laughs.

Using Speedy Legs' original foundations, the D-Projects dancers finished the choreography.

All told, I'd hypothesize that the clash sparked between the traditional ideals of theater (discipline, rehearsal, nailed-down scripting) and those of b-boy culture's stance (one-upmanship, improvisation, free-styling) actually melded to generate the work. After all, the title is Scratch & Burn, which embodies many meanings. Think deejays scratching records on turntables -- and a burn refers to the final, usually ultra acrobatic posture a breakdancer hits and holds that says, "Top that!"

Then there are physical sensations -- you scratch yourself and your skin burns, irritated. Mentioning Iraq, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Castellanos adds, "Burning is also something that happens in war."

Ultimately he strives for something global, humanistic, even spiritual.

"(Scratch & Burn) is a ritual and a cry out for peace. I do believe it is definitely a universal piece," he says.

Though the group has toured overseas, Cincinnati marks their inaugural U.S. tour's first stop -- and the first U.S. city (aside from Miami) where the piece has been performed.

He hopes it will speak for itself. He also quotes Victor Hugo: "Speak for your village and you speak universally."