Description
Alive & Kicking Program #97:
STREB: Extreme Action as Dance
2 Volume DVD Set
This dvd profiles Action Architect Elizabeth Streb and her innovative investigation of movement in a 2 disc dvd set.
This program features a complete performance of their 2009 program Catapult which was recorded at SLAM, The Streb Action Lab in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC. Catapult featured 14 different action events including a KidAction event featuring students from the companys classes. Streb uses the action laboratory to test scientific principles on the body. The outcome is a mixture of slam dancing, exquisite and amazing human flight and a wild action sport which captures kids, older people and the general public’s hearts and minds and bodies. Bonus features include a revealing interview with Elizabeth Streb and documentation of Streb working with the company.
Disc 1 features 5 Action events: “Wall Run Turn”, Crash & Burn”, “Artificial Gravity”, “Polar Wander” and “Roboto”. Also included in the program are selections from with an interview with Elizabeth Streb that is accessible via a scene selection menu. Topics include: her childhood in Rochester, the beginning of her interest in movement, studying dance at SUNY Brockport, her agenda after college, first experiences in New York, a theory of movement originating from laws of physics not music, first dances in 1970’s, developing a vocabulary, & working with dancers, having a career as a dancer & dealing with failure, on Wall Run Turn, on the circus and using a circular stage, on action equipment and the element of danger. Length: 54 minutes
Disc 2 features 4 Action events: “Translation”, “Airlines”, “Kid Action”and “Superposition” and selections from with an interview with Elizabeth Streb that is accessible via a scene selection menu. Topics include: building equipment for Artificial Gravity & other dances, finding dancers, touring shows, the SLAM lab & role of artist in society, a different art business model, Superposition, making dances = asking questions, Pop Action – the Streb technique, dancers vocally cue each other and the influence of Buckminster Fuller.
Length: 45 minutes
Alive & Kicking is an ongoing video documentary series that showcases the dance & performance artists who are expanding the parameters of contemporary performance. Produced & directed by choreographer/performance and video artist Charles Dennis the series now features over 90 programs that are available for purchase.
