High-octane and daring. Action-packed and gravity defying. Surely we’re describing Hollywood stunt work, right? Wrong! We’re talking about rarefied choreography of extreme physicality, innovation, and near-misses that have made Elizabeth Streb a genre leader in this limit-pushing display of human action. Others in this niche of dance that we have written about are Mehmet Sander and Jacques Heim.
STREB’S DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME comprises two components: MAVERICK SURF is a constantly evolving piece in which Action Heroes (a.k.a. dancers) perform their gravity-defying feats at new velocities with breathtaking precision. They are challenged to handle the ever-increasing intensity of a 100-foot wave simulation that turns motion and gravity into adversaries.
Also on offer will be the debut of AIR SPLINTER, a pulse-pounding new work that explores STREB’s signature techniques of falling. In this piece, the Action Heroes leap from a towering truss, their movements cascading in surprising, rhythmic bursts. They leap and land in unpredictable succession.
Better the Action Heroes than us. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME is not for the faint of heart. Pearl-clutchers need not attend.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME | STREB | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | Mar 21 – Apr 13