“Rink Life” Rolls into SIUE Xfest on Sept. 10
Take acrobatic-type movement, dance and theater, mix it with a strong dose of humor, a high level of spontaneity and a healthy portion of relevant subject matter – and the result is a creative feast known as Lucky Plush Productions of Chicago. This hybrid dance-theater company will perform at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Xfest’s 10th anniversary at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10 in Dunham Hall.
Lucky Plush will present “Rink Life,” which portrays and demonstrates the aesthetics and social dynamics of the 1970s roller rink culture, where relationships and storylines are as transient as the world that contains them.
“‘Rink Life’s’ staging and choreography are built from the rink’s spatial rules and social codes, and its script-turned-libretto is built from passing conversations, distant whispers, script fragments, pop-song earworms, and is entirely spoken and sung live,” said Julia Rhoads, creator and artistic director. “As the ensemble sings full ‘throatedly’ to score their experiences, they demonstrate through effort, risk, beauty and failure that they—and we—are utterly dependent on one another.”
“Rink Life” is one of eight national projects to receive a New England Foundation for the Arts 2018 National Theater Project (NTP) Award. Lucky Plush Productions has received two National Dance Project Awards.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to visit our friends at SIUE,” said Rhoads, “to perform and teach regionally, and in our home state of Illinois.”
“My hope is that audiences leave the theater feeling that they engaged with the work on an intellectual level, connected with the individual performers, became invested in the narrative arc, and had a lot of fun,” she added. “One of my favorite things to hear audience members say is that the show was like nothing they’ve ever seen before.”
For more information, visit SIUE Xfest productions.
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Members of the award-winning Lucky Plush Productions perform their unique brand of dance and theater.
