Daredevil stunts, slam-dancing and the heart-pumping thrills of a Demolition Derby are highlights of STREB’s Brave at the Annenberg Center
January 20, 2010MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” winner, Elizabeth Streb premieres full-length Action Adventure Brave February 4-6, 2010 at the Annenberg Center for Performing Arts
Philadelphia, PA– Daredevil stunts, slam-dancing and the heart-pumping thrills of a Demolition Derby are just some of the highlights of STREB’s full-length Brave which makes its Philadelphia premiere February 4-6, 2010 as part of the Dance Celebration Series at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Under the direction of founder/choreographer, self-described Action Architect and MacArthur Award winner Elizabeth Streb, STREB’s Brave is a series of ten “action events” performed by eight Olympian-conditioned dancers she calls “actioneers” – including one Philadelphia native (and Temple graduate!) Samantha Jakus. This extremely physical and highly theatrical event features dancers soaring from rafters, ducking, diving, grunting, crashing and yelling through swinging cinderblocks and fearlessly hurling themselves off a rotating structure kept in perpetual motion. Streb is referred to as the “Evel Knievel of Dance.” Her stellar collaborators include David Van Tieghem (composer/sound designer), Noe & Ivan España (circus performers and inventors of the Whizzing Gizmo design), Aaron Henderson (projection designer), Laura Flanders (librettist) and Zaire Baptiste (VJ/ DJ). Time Out New York has called STREB’s work “as devastatingly beautiful as it is violent.”
Events such as Walk Run Turn, Crash and Slide, Falling and Artificial Gravity demonstrate STREB’s movement exploration that challenges gravity and pushes the boundary of “pure movement.” She explains, “My dancers and I see the rehearsal as a laboratory for testing scientific principles on the body. We invent action ideas which we think are archetypal, noticeable and understandable.” In Squirm, as eight dancers are compressed in a constructed set like sardines in a can, one dancer manages to escape head first through a slit. In Artificial Gravity, the dancers work with two circular devices going in opposite directions on a rotating stage. Video projections show a view of the dancers from above adding another perspective. Brave is an exploration of circular motion. Throughout, the courageous actioneers shout instructions like “in-out” and code phrases like “vanilla shake” and “tuna melt.” And Super Position, the program closer, features circus artists Noe & Ivan España’s Whizzing Gizmo, an amusement park wheel-shaped, tower-like structure with dancers inside, precariously balanced on top, inside and around the edges.
Under the artistic direction of Randy Swartz, the Dance Celebration series, presented by Dance Affiliates and the Annenberg Center’s Penn Presents, maintains the tradition of bringing to Philadelphia the world’s best contemporary touring dance companies. This season’s The Magic of Movement pays tribute to American dance and showcases its diversity of styles, from tap to Broadway, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, multimedia and dance theater.
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