The worlds of high-culture dance and hip hop are meant to be so diametrically opposed it's a wonder this production could be mounted at all. But thanks to the all-round effervescence of youth culture, and the splendid efforts of two dance companies, from Boy Blue Entertainment and Theatre Royal Stratford East, hip hop can now be taken seriously and exploited in a positive manner in the dance world.

Pied Piper is a centuries-old fable of a saintly ingénue luring children away from the world they know; and in this context, the metaphor is one of hip hop luring the youth away from the straight and narrow. Or it could just be an age-old tale retold on hip hop's terms.

The story is a bit convoluted, but once the young, multicultural audience gets into the rhythms of the young, multicultural performers, things fall into place and appear more straightforward. The stage set sets the scene: a graffiti-strewn no-man's-land with a ring-fenced basketball court, traffic cones, garbage bags, a couch and a large recycling bin. To a soundtrack that takes in breakbeats, electro, electronic handclaps and variations on an instrumental hip hop theme, twenty hoodies appear in black ASBO jumpsuits.

They are supposed to represent anti-social vermin, as categorised by the right-wing press. They breakdance, pop-lock and body-rock. The whole Pied Piper tale is told in a language of breakdancing. And, while it's a long way from the South Bronx in the '70s to London's Barbican in 2009, Kenrick 'H20' Sandy, as the Pied Piper, has the moves down pat. He anchors the show and bridges the time gap.

There are multi-media interludes with fake TV broadcasts; scenarios where the town's governors, literally represented by eggheads in suits, offer the Pied Piper money to get rid of the vermin; and sometimes overlong but carefully choreographed fight sequences. In theory, to be a mite facetious, it wouldn't be an authentic hip hop performance without reflections on violence in the community, and the violence here is almost gratuitous, if expertly staged.

Another scene in which scantily clad women come to dance for, and with, the Pied Piper reflects hip hop's video culture and the objectification of women, but it's not that serious, done with a nod and a wink. When children finally join the cast to show off their moves, the process is complete. Hip hop will not die. Not if another, even younger generation, embraces it this young.

Pied Piper is thought-provoking, vibrant and an unexpected ingress-way into the often cloistered world of dance. If it takes hip hop performance art to open up what's often perceived as an elitist citadel, then Pied Piper is a success on all fronts.