Outkast's Big Boi and The Atlanta Ballet Perform "big"

You just know something very special is going down when ballet and hip hop collide and rock 'n roll into one.

The Atlanta Ballet teamed up with Outkast's Antwan "Big Boi" Patton for the world's first hip hop ballet show, titled "big." An ambitious project that combined Big Boi's brash musical performance with the subtle moves of the dancers that ranged from classic ballet to contemporary jazz dance (watch a video of the rehearsals here). Big Boi's friends Sleepy Brown, Khujo Goodie, Scar, Big Rube,  Rock D and the totally amazing Janelle Monae joined the ballet on stage to spice up the performance. I saw the show on opening night this past Thursday.

Lauri Stallings, Atlanta Ballet's choreographer has been working since August with Big Boi to conceptualize the show with a very specific goal in mind. "There are a lot of stereotypes about hip-hop. At the same time, there are stereotypes about what ballet is," Stalings said in a press release. "Many of these assumptions come from people who have never actually experienced these types of art forms. Big [the show] is about putting those assumptions aside and finding the commonality in people."

Stand out act was the performance of the totally amazing Janelle Monae, a superstar amazing who is the female version of Andre 3000. Off the wall, quirky and endlessly talented. In her quasi '50s do, she appeared on a stage in a tutu, doing little pirouettes and a little moonwalk while performing her touching, autobiographical song "Sincerely Jane." "The way we live, the way we die, what a tragedy, I'm so terrified. Daydreamers, please wake up, we can't sleep anymore," she sings.

A visual spectacle was a section of the show, named "Wings," in which a female dancer was suspended in the air while the man partners her from below. The show ended with the a performance of Outkast's "The Way You Move" that turned into a big celebration, which brought a great evening to a close.

Listen to music from "big"
Watch Big Boi talk about "big" on MTV News