Background
Streb was born and raised in Rochester, New York and, after graduating from the dance program of State University of New York at Brockport in 1972, she was interested in experimental works and worked and performed for many years with investigational groups including Molissa Fenley's. She also worked and performed with Margaret Jenkins in San Francisco for two years before relocating back to New York City In 1975, upon her arrival in New York City, Streb created her dance company STREB/ Ringside. Streb received a 1996 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award. In 1997, she was awarded a fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (sometimes called a “Genius” grant), two New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Awards, and grants from John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Creative Capital, The National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Mellon Foundation. In 2003, Streb established SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn which created a new outlet for the community where people could come and watch rehearsals and even participate in classes. She also published her documentary "Streb: Pop Action" showcasing some of the rehearsals and dances she has created at SLAM and giving insight into her life and career.Streb, Elizabeth "Streb: Pop Action" In 2010, Streb's book, ''How to Become an Extreme Action Hero'', was published by The Feminist Press.Career advancements
Streb is known for “A preoccupation with movement and itself was symptomatic of a trend that was altering the traditional profile of modern dance.” She has been creating works from 1975 to the present and is known for her outrageous risk taking and experimental shows she puts on. Streb includes risk into all of her choreography, giving the audience sensations of extreme feelings while watching the performers. She inquired about movement and the suppositions that the dance world created; and integrated actions and principles of the circus, rodeo, and daredevil “stunts.” Morgenroth, "Elizabeth Streb," 99. She is interested in the effects of gravity, math, and physics on her choreography. And has said, “A question like: Can you fall up? This is the bedrock of my process” and that she tries “to notice what questions have not been asked in a particular field that need to be asked and answered.” She grew up participating in extreme sports, therefore she associates a lot of her work with athletics; for example, skiing and motorcycling, and has also expressed her interest in the circus and performance artists such as Chris Burden, Marina Abramović, and admires Trisha Brown. She wanted to gain a better understanding of the effects of movement on matter so she studied math, physics, and philosophy as Dean's Special Scholar at''Streb: Pop Action''
Elizabeth Streb also has documented her achievements in the development of her dance style in her auto-biographical documentary film ''Streb: Pop Action'' (2002). This documentary includes extensive interviews with Elizabeth Streb, artistic director/choreographer of STREB, tracing the evolution of her choreographic style, and discussing her life and what motivated her throughout it. It also includes rehearsal scenes and clips of her performances.''Surprises: STREB – One Extraordinary Day''
On July 15, 2012, The Mayor of London and London 2012 Festival presented Surprises: Streb, one of several high-profile cultural events organised that summer to celebrate the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Staged by LIFT, the London International Festival Of Theatre, Surprises: Streb was an event on a scale never before seen in the UK, thrilling spectators not only locally but across the planet. Surprises: Streb was commissioned by the Mayor of London and the London 2012 Festival with funding from Arts Council England, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor. Streb with a team of 32 dancers (16 from her USA troupe and 16 UK dancers) performed seven "actions" throughout the day on the London cityscape, including abseiling front forward down City Hall, bungee jumping from the Millennium Bridge and attaching 32 dancers to every other spoke of the London Eye. An original commissioned music score by David Van Tieghem accompanied each event.''BORN TO FLY: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity''
In 2012, director Catherine Gund began production on a feature-length documentary chronicling the evolution of Streb's choreography and the STREB Extreme Action Company – entitled ''BORN TO FLY: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity''. The film features footage of the ''One Extraordinary Day'' performance from July 1, 2012, filmed by renowned documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, as well as archival footage from her over 30 years of practice and contemporary performance footage. The film was released in 2014.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Streb, Elizabeth 1950 births American television actresses Living people American female dancers Dancers from New York (state) MacArthur Fellows LGBTQ people from New York (state) American choreographers Artists from Rochester, New York State University of New York at Brockport alumni LGBTQ choreographers 21st-century American women