When Elizabeth Streb came to London

On Sunday 15 July, Brooklyn’s visionary choreographer Elizabeth Streb and her team of ‘action heroes’ thrilled London with a stunning series of daredevil feats. Taking over seven London landmarks, for one extraordinary day these performances stretched the limits of the human body and left spectators in awe.

Streb and her company push the human body to the boundaries of the possible, creating daredevil feats of extreme athleticism, positioned somewhere between dance, free-running, gymnastics and circus. These pictures should give you an idea of the day experienced by 1000s of people throughout the day.

Waterfall - What better way to start your Sunday than by bungee jumping off the Millenium Bridge!

Skywalk - Elizabeth Streb walks down City Hall, More London with two of her dance troupe. They violate the pull of gravity as they float into the air and touch down back on the building in a soaring run along its curvature. Over and over, lower and lower, appearing and disappearing as the crowd gathered watches a deceptively ordinary move achieve ever-changing perspective. This odd and heralding run continues until the noses of the runners, lightly touch the ground beneath the crowd’s feet.

Turn - As the metal structure turns the dancers confront ever-changing centers of gravity, and rapidly shifting directional forces. The Action Heroes discover new spaces for motion on this movement invention, erected in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, in Paternoster Square.

Ascension - As the Ascension ladder turns, and the forces wreak their confusing havoc on the climbers, it becomes difficult to recognise if the performers are climbing up or down at any given time. One by one they hop on and begin their endless climb, around and around and around all nine bodies go.

The Human Fountain - A scaffold structure four stories high is planted between the Trafalgar’s famed fountains. From this structure 32 performers will manifest the power and beauty of falling water. From three meters, from six, from 10.50m – they leap and fall freely to hit the ground below.

Speed Angels - An anti-gravitational ballet where 3 STREB Action Specialists fall at 9.7536 meters per second, the speed of gravity. They plummet 31 meters and then reverse gravity to rise again at the same breakneck speed.
www.streb.org