Big Teeth Performance Collective brings its signature devised work, Ordinary Creatures, to Philadelphia’s Secret Circus on Friday, July 19. The Vermont-based artists weave contemporary dance with acrobatic partnering, physical theater, and virtuosic movement on the trapeze and aerial rope in this embodied investigation of the monstrous. Five women take the stage. Clutching the vestiges of their humanity as they embody machines, werewolves, zombies, and giant bugs, they journey toward the feral and surreal, struggling all the while with undergarments and the rules of gravity. In solos, duos, and ensemble, company members fly, drop, catch, and balance each other through partner dance, dynamic circus technique, and the elegant humor noir of a clown. Think all the wow of Cirque du Soleil’s physical feats, but up close and personal, darker, and with an indie art ethos.
This performance, part of Big Teeth’s second multi-state tour of Ordinary Creatures, will be preceded by opening acts featuring students of Secret Circus. Secret Circus is a contemporary circus arts training center in Philadelphia that boasts some of the nation’s finest and most experienced coaches.
Big Teeth Performance Collective, founded in 2017, visions and creates through physical inquiry and a kaleidoscopic queer lens. Our collaborations are athletic, conceptual, feminist, concrete, interrogative, and bursting with desire. Performers include Megan Gendell (formerly of Acrobatic Conundrum); Naomi Ullian and Jess Hill (formerly of Bromelia Aerial Dance Collective); Catherine Jett (of Spoke Movement Collective); and Molly Graves (of Girls on Trapeze). All are current or former coaches at the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) in Brattleboro, VT.
Ordinary Creatures
Big Teeth Performance Collective
Friday, July 19, 2019, 7:30pm
Runtime 90 minutes, including opening acts
Secret Circus, 428 E Erie Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19134
Tickets $18-24; Online at https://bigteethphilly.bpt.me
At the door (cash only)
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