STREB: Brave

STREB: Brave. A motion and physics based acrobatics group who came to UNC this Friday and Saturday to explore perpetual motion with “superbly-conditioned performers.” (Some had serious guts, I’m sorry but if you want to see amazing physiques watch dancers like Alvin Ailey.)

I was less than impressed.

For any of you who saw the performance, I would love for you to comment on my comments.

Back to the point. I was underwhelmed truly because the reviews in the DTH had been more than generous when saying this group was a “danced based group” which used things like athletics (kick boxing) and machines such as steel poles and hanging wires. First of all, while I’m sure these performers could also be dancers the event was not danced based. I did not see any technical or implicit dance routines mixed in with the performance, besides a comical moment where they copied Michael Jackson’s Thriller moves and the Moonwalk. Secondly, the event was supposed to “push the body to the limits.” I thought this implied something more than simply seeing how much abuse a body could take. These performers would launch themselves at a plastic wall or the floor and land with a perfectly straight body with a crunching “thud” (for the male performers, I am already having doubts). While this was no doubt impressive that they could repeat this 100x over, from differing heights and positions, it got boring quickly.

The use of machines was excellent. For the ending act, they had a giant pendulum in which one person would stay in a circle and the rest would jump on and off, affecting the balance and making for an incredible physics display of centripetal force. (Refer to opening picture).

While this itself was wonderful and brilliantly conducted, I feel that the description of the show was highly misleading. In reality, this was a kind of Circus de Soleil with a focus on the physics in motion. However, I feel that while much of the performance was highly demanding on the bodies of the acrobats, the nuances of things like centripetal motion, impulse, oscillation, and other concepts were lost on the audience. It is very difficult to convey such a complex event and make it interesting to the average person and I feel that Elizabeth Streb did not accomplish this goal.

For those of you who have no idea what this show is about, I am sorry that I posted a review that you probably did not understand. But as far as the worth of the show ($10 for students, $35 for adults) and the time spent, I would not recommend this event over amazing performers that visit Chapel Hill every week.

P.S. Everyone make sure to go see Gilberto Gil if you love musical innovation.

Blog 5 for ENGL 102 completed.