Risky Talking with Bill T. Jones, Majora Carter, Laura Flanders, and Elizabeth Streb
On November 1st, SLAM – the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics – opened its Williamsburg doors for the first in a series of discussions under the umbrella of Risky Talking. This series, funded by Dance/USA’s Engaging Dance Audiences program, asks attendees to participate in a “no-holds-barred discussion,” to “say what you think,” and, at least on this inaugural evening, to answer the question: What is a real risk? Everyone present wrote his or her answer on a slip of paper, placing it on a plate for collection, and for one terrifying moment I thought we were going to hear panel member Bill T. Jones read each anonymous risk aloud in that prophetic voice, but Elizabeth Streb had other plans. Upon entering the performance/work space at SLAM, viewers observed the reinforced rigging and padded landing zone where Streb’s work is created and practiced. To either side of this platform were two transparent boxes, open at the top, inside both of which were stacked cinder blocks. The boxes were illuminated; the dichotomy of light and weight foreshadowed what was to come. Over an hour later, when our risky thoughts had been collected, Streb and partner Laura Flanders placed them atop the cinder blocks and gave the cue for twin bowling balls to drop from the ceiling and crush them to bits, sending puffs of concrete dust and shards of plate flying. the full article originally appeared on DancePulp