A preview interview with Elizabeth Streb who has a new show 'Action Heroes'. I have to say that when she brought her previous show to London last year, I was underwhelmed, as were the London critics. The crudity of her gymnastic/physical theatre left me cold, compared with Momix or Deborah Colker's company.<BR> <P><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/artleisure/dance-daredevil.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/artleisure/dance-daredevil.html</A> <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited August 06, 2000).]

<P><BR>Well, Philadelphia seems to like "Action Heroes":<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B><A HREF="http://web.philly.com/content/inquirer/2000/11/04/magazine/DANCE04.htm" TARGET=_blank>Thrilling, dangerous theater of impact</A></B><BR> <BR>By Miriam Seidel, Phildalephia Inquirer<P>Step right up - Elizabeth Streb Ringside has blown into town. The circus reference in this dance company's name has never been more apt. Complete with trampolines, bungee cords and harnesses, the company's new show at the Annenberg Center, Action Heroes, set a fast-moving, circus-act pace for its short, stuntlike numbers. At Thursday's opening performance, Streb herself came out as ringmaster, introducing her eight dancers by height, weight and hometown, like the highly toned athletes they are.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

From the Chicago Sun Times:<P><B>Dancing without a net</B> <P>January 30, 2002<P>BY HEDY WEISS THEATER CRITIC<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Ask choreographer Elizabeth Streb to name her artistic influences, and you will hear no mention of Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham or any other modern dance icons. Instead, she cites motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel, escape artist Harry Houdini, master of slapstick comedy Buster Keaton, stuntman Cannonball Richards, spectacle maker Busby Berkeley and that risk-taking soul, Annie Edson Taylor, who decided to go with the flow and became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.suntimes.com/output/theater/cst-ftr-stage30.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><BR>

A link to our other thread on Streb, and some other reviews of "Action Heroes" (not one of my faves, to tell the truth):<P><A HREF="http://216.97.99.198/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000331.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Elizabeth Streb</B></A>

I saw "Action Heroes" last year here in Seattle. I had never seen Streb's work before, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the danger of it, something I find lacking in most of modern dance, which has a tendency (as Daniel Nagrin used to say in choreography class) to be "physically boring". I felt that Streb transcended this, which I found refreshing; It was a nice change from "dancey dance". smile...but...to each his own.<P>[This message has been edited by trina (edited January 30, 2002).]<p>[This message has been edited by trina (edited January 30, 2002).]