"People like yourself and your colleagues represent for me the brilliant new generation of thinkers who have chosen, thank goodness, to dance." –William Forsythe, choreographer
ABOUT
Punk Yankees is a provocative and entertaining dance theater work that combines live performance, video, and the internet to unpack ideas about authenticity, originality, and the ownership of dance in the digital age. With the controversial nature of dealing with issues of intellectual property, the work takes on challenging topics including sampling, mash-ups, stylistic referencing, impersonation, unconscious theft, lineage, cultural appropriation, and ideas about “fair use” in dance.
Featured in the Chicago Reader’s “Best of Chicago 2010” for Best Commentary on Modern Technology by a Choreographer, “the fast-paced, witty Punk Yankees” is fundamentally paradoxical, tongue-in-cheek, subversive, and, best of all, great fun.”
Visit StealThisDance.com, a virtual stage for our research and experiments for Punk Yankees, and a place where you can steal, buy, and share dance moves!
CREDITS
PREMIERE: The Dance Centre of Columbia College, 2009
CHOREOGRAPHY & ARTISTIC DIRECTION: Julia Rhoads
COLLABORATIVELY DEVISED AND PERFORMED BY THE ENSEMBLE: Francisco Aviña, Kim Goldman, Tim Heck, Julia Rhoads, Benjamin Wardell, Meghann Wilkinson
ORIGINAL MUSIC: Yea Big (Stefen Robinson)
ADDITIONAL MUSIC: Alarm Will Sound, Kate Bush, Corona, Electrelane, Lucky Plush Productions, Dean Martin, Henry Purcell, Wax Tailor, Robert Tiso.
ORIGINAL TEXT: Julia Rhoads
APPROPRIATED TEXT EXERPT: William Shakespeare, Henry IV. 1596
COSTUME DESIGN: Jeffrey Hancock
LIGHTING DESIGN, TECHNICAL DIRECTION & STAGE MANAGEMENT: Kevin Rechner
MEDIA DESIGN: Julie Ballard
VIDEO DESIGN: John Boesche, Jocelyn Kelvin
*Special thanks to Lia Bonfilio, Jennifer Meek, Robbie Cook, Asimina Chremos and Autumn Eckman for their contributions to the development of this work.
Past Performances
BOOKING INQUIRIES:
Contact Kim Goldman, Managing Director
kim@luckyplush.com
The creation of Punk Yankees was made possible in part through a research and development grant awarded Julia Rhoads from the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, and a project grant from the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation. Punk Yankees was also made possible in part by The Joyce Theater Foundation, The Dance Center of Columbia College and The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2009: Chicago, a grant funded by a generous contribution from The Boeing Company.