Hailing from the Boston area, contemporary dance group Ruckus Dance will make its first Philadelphia appearance as part of the 2018 Philly Fringe Festival. Directed by dance-maker and “anti-choreographer” Michael Figueroa, Ruckus aims to both provoke conversation and bewilder the viewer, driving audiences to ask questions about the logic of what is happening before them. Working with Philadelphia-based guest artists, and featuring a special performance by Subject:Matter, a Boston-based tap company, the show will consider the sense and mechanics of relationships — in work, family (supposedly), friends, and love (maybe).
The performance will feature a restaging of KnockOut, the company’s inaugural work from 2016, in addition to a solo experiment entitled I love you in real time (2018) and Greene and Jardine, a new duet from tap company Subject:Matter. I love you in real time, performed by Michael Figueroa, explores boundaries and personal limits of physicality. Greene and Jardine is a “brother-sister” act in the style of legendary sibling acts like the Nicholas Brothers and Condos Brothers, performed by look-alike, non-siblings Ian Berg and Sam Emmond of Subject:Matter. Finally, Ruckus Dance will present an updated reworking of their inaugural piece KnockOut, which originally premiered in 2016 at The Dance Complex’s CATALYST Series in Cambridge, MA. Utilizing numbered dance phrases and a call structure, KnockOut is a system of accountability in which the dancers make real-time decisions to obey or disobey the rules in an effort to bring about their own exhaustion while investigating the power of a collective and the grit of an individual. Original Ruckus dancers Terina-Jasmine Alladin, Michael Figueroa, and Marissa Molinar will perform this work, which has been redeveloped in collaboration with three Philadelphia-based dancers Isaac Lindy, Kate Seethaler, and Steph Turner.
Since its founding in 2015, Ruckus Dance has established a reputation of going beyond choreography to make concert dance a social endeavor. Lauded for bringing “the “wow” factor – both in athletic, soulful dancing and theatrical elements that [bring] a shock factor” (Kathryn Boland of Dance Informa), Ruckus has performed in such unconventional spaces as basements, cemeteries, and shop windows, and has been presented by acclaimed organizations such as DanceNow Boston, Outside The Box Festival, and Denmark Arts Center in Denmark, Maine. Ruckus Dance presented its evening-length debut, BABY’S FIRST SHOW, in April 2018 at The Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA to wide audience acclaim. Ruckus was recently presented by artist organization New Movement Collaborative in a split bill with Boston Dance Theater and Sara Shelton Mann/Jesse Zaritt, and were selected by the Somerville Arts Council (MA) to perform at the Somerville Theater in this year’s ArtBeat Festival.
Ruckus Dance: KnockOut will be held on Saturday, September 22nd at 4:00pm & 7:00pm. Q&A to follow each performance. Both shows will take place at The Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine St, Philadelphia, PA 19130. Tickets are $10 student/senior/military, $15 general admission, and $30 sponsor. For tickets and details, visit https://fringearts.com/event/babys-first-time-to-philly-2/