"Already inside hip hop dance there is this sweetness and romance," says Lorca Renoux.

A former B-boy and graffiti artist of the Parisian ghetto, Renoux is French, and so what he actually says is "eep op". But then Rumble, a street version of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo And Juliet, is all about the transcendence of boundaries - in language, dance and love.

A smash hit of the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe, now revamped for a national tour, this Renegade Theatre production takes Shakespeare's tragic love story and swaps the feuding families of Verona for rival break-dance crews.

Replacing sword fights with handstands, popping moves and head spins, it is the result of a collaboration between grass-roots choreographer Renoux, producer Zekai Fenerci, known as the Godfather of German hip hop, and director Markus Michalowsi, who trained with the Cuban State Circus before becoming a fight director.

"Markus brings this flair for comedy, and Mercutio also has a background in pantomime," says Renoux. "We used the comedy which was inside the group, so this is a sometimes funny, not so serious, very funky version."

Deciding from the beginning their piece would be inspired by Shakespeare's play but not enslaved to it, Renoux and crew set out to create a thrilling piece of urban dance theatre which was also poetry in motion.

The tale of the star-crossed lovers is played out on two massive scaffolding towers, with video footage and technical trickery whisking you from stairwell to tower block, from smoky dance hall to graffitied street corner.

It is more West Side Story than Romeo And Juliet.

"There are so many different qualities of movement in hip hop dance," says Renoux. "But in general the hip hop dance is in a specific context like battle or show, and that was more or less all the challenge with this piece - to try to bring the energy of this dance into a different context."

Performed to a score of powerful beatboxing, sampling and sax, Rumble is an exhilarating innovation in physical storytelling. And, with its cast made up of both hip hop and modern dancers, it also has a message for the dance world.

"Romeo is a pure hip hop dancer and Juliet comes from modern dance," explains Renoux. "The relationship in the piece creates the bridge between hip hop dance and modern dance. It personifies how the two worlds can fit together really good."