Diavolo's daredevil dancers take flight Oct. 12
September 27, 2005
Diavolo, a Los Angeles-based company of 10 performers coming to Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, creates artistic spectacles by doing things on stage that most of us could never do. But the methods they use to achieve their feats–building trust, developing communication and taking risks–read like a blueprint for each of us to succeed at life.
"This profoundly physical group of dancer/actor/gymnast/stunt people, under the direction of Jacques Heim [who recently choreographed Cirque du Soleil‚s newest Las Vegas production], has forged new turf for itself. And it was easy to see why it was so enthusiastically received," writes a Dallas Morning News reviewer. "This stuff was about physics class meets human anatomy meets giant constructed sets that facilitate propulsion and explorations of gravity."
Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation at University Park are on sale now at $29 for an adult, $10 for a University Park student and $19 for a person 18 and younger. For tickets and information, visit www.cpa.psu.edu or phone (814) 863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at Eisenhower Auditorium, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; Penn State Tickets Downtown, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays; and Bryce Jordan Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
"Through the company," Heim says, "I try to convey an appreciation for movement by breaking down barriers to dance via a vocabulary based on everyday activities. Diavolo is made up of people of varied abilities and training all of whom are teammates. Building a team that allows for complete trust has been essential to creating a kind of work where dancers are inspired to take serious risks."
"A Frenchman who studied theater, dance, film and choreography in the United States and England, Heim has absorbed influences from Parisian street theater, surrealist painting and film, Hollywood movies and everyday life," writes a critic for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. "Aspects of his work relate to the high-risk kinetics of Elizabeth Streb, the non-traditional partnering of Pilobolus and the prop manipulation of Momix. But Diavolo is different. While its productions, like those of other contemporary companies, tell no story, its imagery makes powerful comments on the human condition."
Vaughn Shirk Interior Design sponsors the performance. WTAJ-TV10 is the media partner, while radio station Hot 103 is the media sponsor. Artistic Viewpoints, sponsored by the Center for the Performing Arts Community Advisory Council, provides insight from a visiting artist or local expert and is offered free to interested ticket holders in the Eisenhower Auditorium Conference Room one hour before the performance. A conversation among the artists and audience takes place after the show
Contact: Laura Sullivan (814) 863-6379