Freestyle Hip Hop Dance Jam by Outside the Block

In August 2025, the photographer Marleen Annema created Dans zonder muren [Dance Without Walls], a series of portraits of Outside the Block, Groningen’s vibrant freestyle dance scene. Annema works intuitively, capturing people within their environments and pays keen attention to changing light. Shot on two long summer evenings, the dancers move as daylight fades to dusk, and darkness becomes illuminated by streetlights.

Meeting outside every fortnight, these dance gatherings are initiated by Grace Hardt (second photo from the left) and Juersson Hermanus (first photo on the right). Taking place in the Noorderplantsoen, a park in the north of the city, or around Groningen Station, they are free meet-ups that welcome both trained and self-taught dancers. It is Hip Hop that is the connecting force. The vibe is more important than technique: making a space that is open for experimenting, connecting and for building a growing community of participants and onlookers. As part of the Hip Hop Is exhibition, Grace Hardt and Juersson Hermanus have been invited to hold their open dance jams at the Groninger Museum. You are invited to join Outside the Block in this space on Saturday 21 March and on Saturday 18 April from 2 PM to 4:30 PM in Coop Himmelb(l)au (the second floor of the Hip Hop Is exhibition).