Acclaimed dance troupe STREB EXTREME ACTION turns gallery into rehearsal, performance, and exhibition space
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (May 22, 2019) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College presents the exhibition STREB Action (June 1 through July 21), in which the acclaimed dance company STREB EXTREME ACTION turns a gallery into a rehearsal and performance space, and an exhibition of its archive of cutting-edge work since its 1985 founding by choreographer Elizabeth Streb.
Streb and company will be in residence from June 4 through June 21, and will rehearse in the gallery on most afternoons. Those rehearsals are open to the public. The exhibition will feature notebooks that reveal Streb’s colorful, hand-drawn choreographic notes and ideas, and videos that show some of the company’s earliest recorded performances.
“A world of wonder appears when the ground is dragged out from under you,” Streb says. “You are aloft – if only for the moment. My motion lexicon is called POP ACTION. It exists on stage as a fusion of dance, sports, gymnastics, and the American circus. It is power, honesty, daring, soaring, and for humans, it is risk. And in all of its glory, the movement that I espouse allows me to tell a non-narrative, non-predictive story. The story of people and communities and interdependence. And trust. But the story is more than just movement and choreography. It is about humanity, in all of its shapes and sizes and hues.”
The exhibition is in conjunction with Streb’s position as the Skidmore Summer Dance Choreographer-in-Residence, a program organized by the Skidmore College Office of Special Programs. In addition to open rehearsals, Streb and her dance company will offer a free public performance on June 14 at the museum, conduct public workshops during Frances Day, the museum’s annual community day on Saturday, June 15, and develop new work in collaboration with Anne Bogart, the Co-Artistic Director of SITI Company and Skidmore’s Summer Theater Workshop, called FALLING & LOVING.
Here is a complete list of public events:
Thursday, June 6, 7 pm: Film and Discussion
Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb Vs. Gravity, a film by Catherine Gund
Join us for a screening of Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, followed by a talk with Streb. The film by Catherine Gund traces the evolution of Streb’s movement philosophy as she pushes herself and her performers from the ground to the sky.
Thursday, June 13, 7 pm: Dialogue with Elizabeth Streb, Anne Bogart, and Ian Berry
Anne Bogart, Obie-winning director and co-artistic director of SITI Company, and Elizabeth Streb will discuss a new piece they are collaborating on while in residence at Skidmore College called FALLING & LOVING. The dialogue will be moderated by Dayton Director Ian Berry.
Friday, June 14, 7 pm: STREB EXTREME ACTION in Performance
STREB EXTREME ACTION is known for physically demanding performances that combine virtuosity, technical skill, and popular appeal. Witness this company defy gravity in a program that features new and recent works including Molinette, Air, Tilt, Revolution, and Remain.
Saturday, June 15, 1 pm: Frances Day
The Tang’s sixth annual Frances Day features tours, art-making, music, food, and special events with Elizabeth Streb and her dance company, STREB EXTREME ACTION.
2:00 PM: Streb will give a gallery talk and demonstration of Streb Extreme Action
2:30 PM: Streb workshop for 25 participants (sign-up begins at 1 p.m. in the museum)
3:00 PM: Streb workshop for 25 participants (sign-up begins at 1 p.m. in the museum)
3:30 PM: Streb workshop for 25 participants (sign-up begins at 1 p.m. in the museum)
Thursday, June 20, 7 pm: FALLING & LOVING Work-in-Progress Showing
Elizabeth Streb and Anne Bogart present an informal showing of a new work in development performed by members of STREB EXTREME ACTION and SITI Company in the Skidmore College Dance Center.
All events are free and open to the public. For more information, please call the Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit http://tang.skidmore.edu.
The exhibition is organized by Dayton Director Ian Berry and Streb. The events are sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts, the Office of Special Programs and the Tang Teaching Museum.
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the institution’s approach has become a model for university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs and series that bring together the visual and performing arts with fields of study as disparate as history, astronomy, and physics. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, the Mellon Seminar, and robust publication and touring exhibition initiatives that extend the institution’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of ideas and exchange the institution catalyzes. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, from noon to 5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm Thursday. More information at http://tang.skidmore.edu.