Updraft at Theater Project
1 September 2010
Based in the upper Shenandoah Valley—which comprises parts of rural Virgina, West Virginia, and Maryland—the aerial dance troupe Updraft: A Conspiracy of Movement is devoted to raising social consciousness. The artists use low-flying aerial apparatus such as trapezes, hanging silk fabrics, and bungee harnesses to tell stories of rural communities, as in Some Glad Morning, coming to Theatre Project this month. In it, the aerial artists use movement to explore such topical issues as stereotyping, coal mining, consumerism, and the urban sprawl that endangers farmland. Divided into five sections, the piece concludes with "I'll Fly Away," featuring a capella singing from the dancers that explores our spiritual connection with the earth. (45 W. Preston St.; 410-752-8558; www.theatreproject.org)
—Amelia Blevins
