Last three performances: May 19, 20, and 21
TIME MACHINE is STREB’s offering for their 2023 spring home season; performances began on March 24 and end on May 21. TIME MACHINE in action is a tribute to the fervor for movement and dynamics, the creation of huge machines, and the challenge of gravity that encompasses a 40+-year journey of uninterrupted activity thus tapping the roots of the life of a radical woman, for whom risk and danger, her conception of art and the transgression of the classical concept of dance are basic elements of her artistic creation. This legendary, Brooklyn-based woman is MacArthur Award winner, developer of PopAction, teacher, performer, and choreographer Elizabeth Streb.
This theatrical journey’s beautiful itinerary starts in the 70s and 80s, then heads to the first experimentation with equipment in the 90s, and finishes with a great leap to the present moment: living testimony of the permanent use of large-scale machinery.
STREB EXTREME ACTION Company, was founded in New York in 1979, and in January 2003 it established headquarters in the neighborhood with the opening of SLAM (STREB Lab for Action Mechanics) at 51 North 1st Street.
It is in this great open space, without columns and with 24-foot high ceilings, the performance begins with a huge semicircular wheel and a solid human team of nine Action Heroes. With absolute precision they keep the audience in constant amazement, inducing gasps and increasing pulse rates with displays of full-force skill that combine gymnastic and athletic techniques with unexpected movements. The space is filled with irrepressible action.
One dancer/hero after the other stands on the wheel and walks. The faster their movements, the more accelerated the rotation of the wheel — but it stops at the exact moment when it reaches maximum verticality.
TIME MACHINE is a bold and daring show that demands impressive energy and no hesitation. Actions are executed at the precise time with determination. The show comes to an end with an apotheosis of human flight. An exhilarating succession of jumps, from a trampoline into the void, are realized with absolute freedom. This brilliant and innovative piece was composed of hard work and continuous research with the aim of staying in the air as long as possible by Cassandre Joseph-Donnelly, STREB’s co-artistic director.
This performance is a luxury not to be missed; enjoy the remaining performances with your kids, family, and friends on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. through May 21. For tickets go to: https://givebutter.com/2023SpringSLAMShow
The commitment of STREB EXTREME ACTION Company to our society is commendable and also deserves applause. At SLAM the community can access experimental work and interact with different disciplines in the field of movement and action. It is not only its prestigious PopAction School and España STREB Trapeze Academy programs, but it is also a rehearsal space, a summer camp, an emerging artist’s showcase, Kid Company, monthly TWEEN and TEEN ACTION CLUBS, K–12 school and community associations, and other activities carried out by highly responsible teachers and an organized team. SLAM is a laboratory where art is reinvented via embracing the culture of our streets; it is an invisible mirror where our desires to live a better life are reflected. It presents the spirit of learning to fall to get up again, which feeds our goal of going further.
“It’s time to fly”, says Streb.
STREB’s TIME MACHINE’s final performances are: Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. through May 21 at 51 North 1st Street, Brooklyn, New York. For tickets go to: https://givebutter.com/2023SpringSLAMShow
The Greenline 