STREB APAP Resource Materials

TIME MACHINE is a journey through Elizabeth Streb’s career that explores her classic solos from the 70s and 80s, early equipment experimentations from the 90s, and jaw-dropping extreme action opuses with the large scale “action machines” the company has since become known for from the early 21st century. This historic look back connects the line from the company’s experimental past to the extreme action of their current and future works.

A gleaming aluminum 21-foot turning ladder, inspired by the essential, quotidian fire escape and the myth of Sisyphus. Eight dancers inhabit and negotiate the spinning rungs with nerve and split second timing as their own gravity propels the rungs ever faster creating moments of hard-won, graceful beauty. The mission for the dancers: Never Let Go! Commissioned by Fall For Dance Festival 2016.

GIZMO is a spinning hunk of yellow-colored metal. Weighing in at 2040 pounds this Action Machine was invented by trapeze masters, Noe and Ivan España and inspired by the circus world’s apparatus called The Wheel of Death. GIZMO features performers engaging the wheel’s rotation by moving inside and around as a counterweighted prong, opposite the wheel, sustains rotation. Bodies are intermittently ejected. The faster the feet move, the faster the wheel turns.

Attached by their feet, a trio of dancers magically rotate and free fall in space; turning our notions of gravity upside down. Designed by Noe España. Commissioned for the historic re-opening of theThéâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2019.

A 20’ human-scale ‘’hamster wheel”. An exciting exploration of the concepts of centrifugal and centripetal force and the possibilities of human flight and continuous motion. Dancers occupy the interior and exterior surfaces; cling, run, eject, repeat. Commissioned by Bloomberg for the opening of its new corporate headquarters in London in Fall 2017.

Be a co-commissioner of STREB’s newest Action Machine – SURF. SURF is a Maverick Wave apparatus designed to evoke motions surfers confront in the ocean’s gargantuan, 70 to 100 feet high, maverick waves, with power and turbulence.

STREB EXTREME ACTION rehearsals are FREE and OPEN to the Public. The company welcomes guests to watch the process as it unfolds. STREB believes that the cross section of activity in our space feeds the creativity.  Open rehearsals may include engagement with cast or crew.

STREB values opportunities for conversation and the exchange of ideas. Q&As with artistic leadership, dancers, and crew arranged in concurrence with performances provide occasions for engagement.

STREB offers advanced level PopAction technique classes for dance students and professionals. Developed by Elizabeth Streb over the last 20 years, PopAction Masterclasses introduce dancers to new skills by posing unique challenges: change your base of support in a rapid fire way, physically designate specific locations in vertical and horizontal space, learn to pop the muscles to initiate action (rather than skeletally transferring weight), train for impact, learn to fly with low-to-the-ground maneuvers that increase spatial awareness, and incorporate a timing system that is not musical but physical “felt timing’. Class confronts issues of falling and fear. PopAction Masterclasses are typically 90 minutes long. Longer residencies can be arranged.

STREB offers intro-level classes and workshops in the PopAction technique for ages 5 through adult. STREB operates on a ‘personal best’ principle; the method suits all body types, ages, and skill sets. In addition to working with school children of all ages and levels of development, STREB has developed Exchange Events individually tailored to specific groups, such as professional artists, athletes, gymnasts, cheerleaders, boy scouts, boxing students and wrestlers, as well as physics students and theater classes. Exchange Events center on physical participation and the exchange of expertise. The classes emphasize building strength, accomplishing wild actions safely, and deepening each participant’s own set of ‘personal best’ physical skills. Classes range from 30-90 minutes long.

MacArthur Award winner Elizabeth Streb constructs custom-tailored presentations that combine video, images,drawings, calculations, and quotes to illustrate her unique theory of action and how it relates to a myriad of subjects, including, but not limited to architecture, mathematics, physics, and the visual arts. In her demonstrations, Streb presents an amalgam of information to simulate an action show and deconstructs her approach to action, as well as her theories and process. Themes addressed can feature how humans fly and land, while tracing the lineage of Streb’s action-invention. Relevant topics often include how a sentient audience ‘sees’ or experiences movement, how they understand action on stage, comprehend size, distance, speed and angle of viewing. Streb’s demonstration shares the effect of the viewer’s own frame of reference on their perception of action. What are Action’s reference points? What are Movement’s “vanishing points”? Strebs lectures are a fascinating discourse from one of the world’s freshest observers of everyday action.

A curated gallery exhibition showcasing the history of Elizabeth Streb and STREB EXTREME ACTION through archival videos, images, drawings, and machinery. In her forty+ year choreographic career, Action Architect Elizabeth Streb and her company have created and performed over one hundred works that celebrate movement and flight.