Live Vibe was a work in progress for more than a decade. The ensemble dance programme, comprising individual dance routines that combine movement and narrative, was conceived in London by founder and artistic director Hakeem Onibudo. In 2009 he premiered the programme in his hometown, and in 2010 it made its international debut in Hong Kong as a co-production with Fake Frog Productions.

In its earliest incarnations, the concept of the show was for it to be a platform to showcase hip hop dance. But over the years it has become more than a one-genre act.

"We found that if you only attract one genre [of dance], you are limiting yourself as far as knowledge, exchange and dialogue [are concerned]," says Onibudo. Instead, the show has since morphed into a multi-genre platform in Britain, where dancers from various backgrounds are invited to participate in and share discourses in dance.

For Live Vibe's return to town this week, Onibudo went with "identity" as the overarching theme to weave together the 10 acts that include both professional and non-professional dancers. Among them are two-time World Hip Hop Dance Championship winners the Philippine Allstars, as well as dancers from Youth Outreach Hong Kong's School of Hip Hop. Many forms of dance will be represented, including contemporary, classical and, of course, hip hop and its many manifestations.

Since 2000, Onibudo has dabbled with the idea of developing a narrative dance programme. He says this form resolves the issues of the mundane and repetitive format of simply having people dance to certain songs.

Through narrative dance he is able to package the dazzling technical expertise of dancers into a complete performance and not just a dance.

"[Narrative dance] is about creating an emotional stage, telling a story, expressing a social issue," Onibudo says.

"It gives something more than just dance after dance, because that may just become who has fantastic movement or who hasn't got great movement. So narrative dance allows the audience to go away with something - a story, a stimulus, a feeling, an emotion."

As the brains behind Live Vibe, and after nearly four years since its inception, the 42-year-old is taking more of a back seat in the regular duties of the show. Now, his attention is devoted to making sure the performances are worthy and representative of the Live Vibe brand.