Attack Theatre

Last updated
Attack Theatre
Established1993;29 years ago (1993)
FounderMichele de la Reza,
Peter Kope
Type Nonprofit
20-1909284 [1]
PurposeArtful expression of life through dance.
Headquarters212 45th Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°28′18″N79°57′33″W / 40.471680°N 79.959110°W / 40.471680; -79.959110 Coordinates: 40°28′18″N79°57′33″W / 40.471680°N 79.959110°W / 40.471680; -79.959110
Budget (2021)
$1,000,000
Staff
15
Website attacktheatre.com

Attack Theatre is an American contemporary dance company based in Pittsburgh, PA. Established in 1994 by Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope, the company is best known for its use of non-traditional stages and audience immersion. They have produced over 200 shows and toured internationally. [2]

Contents

About

Attack Theatre was founded in 1994 by dancers Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope. The dance company would fuse contemporary dance, modern dance, and incorporate live music into their performances. Dave Eggar would become a long-term collaborator occasionally serving music director and musician for the company. [2] [3] Since its founding, the group has performed over 200 shows. [4] In 2006, the US Embassy sponsored Attack Theatre's international tour. They were the first American dance company to perform in parts of Indonesia in twenty-five years. [5] [6]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the dance company shifted to open air performances in public parks. [7] The troupe dedicated dancers for performances to be live-stream performers along the ensemble on stage. [8] [9] This hybrid performance earned them recognition and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. [10]

Throughout the years, Attack Theatre collaborated with Quantum Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet, and the Pittsburgh Opera. They operated out of Pittsburgh Opera's building while they searched for their own permanent facility. In 2021 they move into their own theatre in Lawrenceville. [11]

The Dirty Ball

In 2006, the organization started the Dirty Ball gala. The dance troupe's fundraiser was located in abandoned warehouses left over Pittsburgh's Steel crisis. Immediately, critics celebrated the gritty urban decay backdrops to the over the top modern dance party. [12] By its tenth anniversary, the Dirty Ball was highly regarded as Pittsburgh's best annual party with thousands in attendance. [13] [14] [15]

Attack Theatre announced a hiatus from producing the Dirty Ball in 2016. Instead they hosted a series smaller fundraisers including 'One Night Stand'. [16] [17] In 2019 Attack Theatre announced the return of the annual fundraiser but has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Flatley</span> Irish-American step dancer

Michael Ryan Flatley is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, and Celtic Tiger Live. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 million people in 60 countries and have grossed more than $1 billion.

<i>Bangsawan</i> Indonesian and Malaysian traditional opera

Bangsawan is a type of traditional Malay opera or theatre performed by a troupe, and accompanied by music and sometimes dances. The bangsawan theatrical performance encompasses music, dance and drama. It is widely spread in the Malay cultural realm in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. The artform is indigenous in Malay Peninsula, Riau Islands, Sumatra and coastal Borneo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Page (ballerina)</span> American ballerina and choreographer (1899–1991)

Ruth Page was an American ballerina and choreographer, who created innovative works on American themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Dance Theatre</span> Australian contemporary dance company

Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), known as Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre from 1993 to 1999, is a contemporary dance company based in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1965 by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman. The ADT was the first modern dance company in Australia, and drew on the techniques of Martha Graham for its inspiration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harris Theater (Chicago)</span> Theater in Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance is a 1,499-seat theater for the performing arts located along the northern edge of Millennium Park on Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, US. The theater, which is largely underground due to Grant Park-related height restrictions, was named for its primary benefactors, Joan and Irving Harris. It serves as the park's indoor performing venue, a complement to Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which hosts the park's outdoor performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallimaufry Performing Arts</span> Musical artist

Gallimaufry Performing Arts is a theater and dance company founded in 2004 in Laguna Beach, California by Steve Josephson, the current Executive Artistic Director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bollhuset</span>

Bollhuset, also called Stora Bollhuset, Bollhusteatern, and Gamla Bollhuset at various times, was the name of the first theater in Stockholm, Sweden; it was the first Swedish theater and the first real theater building in the whole of Scandinavia. It was built in 1627 for ball sports and used in this way for forty years. The name Lejonkulan, however, was, in fact, the name of a different building, which was also used by the same theater in the 17th century.

The Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center is part of Mercyhurst University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quantum Theatre</span> Contemporary theatre incubator

Quantum Theatre is a experimental theatre company that uses non-traditional stages in Pittsburgh, PA. Founded in 1990 by Karla Boos, it is the longest running producer of site specific plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsburgh Playhouse</span>

Pittsburgh Playhouse is Point Park University's performing arts center located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses three performance spaces and is home to The Rep, Point Park's resident professional theatre company, as well as three student companies—Conservatory Theatre Company, Conservatory Dance Company, and Playhouse Jr. The Conservatory Theatre Company offers five productions each year that are performed by undergraduate students at Point Park; each season consists of a mixture of established plays and musicals, as well as occasional new works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre in Pittsburgh</span> Overview about theatre in Pittsburgh

Theater in Pittsburgh has existed professionally since the early 1800s and has continued to expand, having emerged as an important cultural force in the city over the past several decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas City Ballet</span>

The Kansas City Ballet (KCB) is an American professional ballet company based in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was founded in 1957 by Russian expatriate Tatiana Dokoudovska. The KCB presents five major performances each season to include an annual production of The Nutcracker. In the 2016–2017 season, KCB grew to an all-time high with 30 company dancers, 15 second company dancers, 64 full-time and part-time staff, and a network of over 400 local volunteers. The KCB, its school, and its staff are all housed in, operate from, and rehearse at the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, a renovated, seven-studio, office, and rehearsal facility in Kansas City, Missouri, that opened in August 2011. The company performs at and is the resident ballet company at the nearby Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a performance venue in downtown Kansas City that opened in September 2011.

Josef Brown is an Australian actor, dancer and choreographer. Brown attended The McDonald College of the Arts and the Australian Ballet School, where he was promoted to soloist in 1994. He joined the Sydney Dance Company in 1997 and appeared in and choreographed various productions. Brown originated the role of Johnny Castle in the stage adaptation of Dirty Dancing. For his portrayal of Johnny, Brown won the Outstanding Performance in a Stage Musical accolade at the 2005 Australian Dance Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carriageworks</span> Multi-purpose arts venue in Sydney

Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being used for filming, festivals, fairs and commercial exhibitions. The largest such venue in Australia, it is a cultural facility of the NSW Government, and receives support from Create NSW and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts. The centre has commissioned new work by Australian and international artists, and has been home to eight theatre, dance and film companies, including Performance Space, Sydney Chamber Opera and Moogahlin Performing Arts, and a weekly farmers' market has operated there for many years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Riboet's Orion</span> Theatrical troupe in the Dutch East Indies

Miss Riboet's Orion, originally known as the Orion Opera, was a theatrical troupe active in the Dutch East Indies in the 1920s and early 1930s. Established by the husband and wife team Tio Tek Djien and Miss Riboet, the company travelled throughout the Indies and performed various acts, particularly those with action scenes. It was disbanded in 1942, having lost much of its popularity due to competition with Dardanella.

Amy Gordon Guterson is an American Orthodox Jewish actress, filmmaker, and educator. She is best known for her role as Chaya Epstein in the long-running video series Agent Emes. She is the founder and director of the Tzohar Seminary for Chassidus and the Arts and co-founder of the Jewish women's theater troupe Kol Isha. She is also a board member of the Arts and Torah Association for Religious Artists (ATARA), founded by Miriam Leah Droz.

Stephanie Renee Dabney was an American dancer who performed as a prima ballerina with Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1979 through 1994. Dabney is best known for her performances in John Taras' The Firebird, which she performed all over the world, as well as at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts</span> Aspect of viral outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the performing arts, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Due to physical distancing requirements and closure of the physical venues, curtailing not only public performances but also rehearsals, many performing arts institutions attempted to adapt by offering new digital services. In particular this resulted in the free online streaming of previously recorded performances of many companies – especially orchestral performances and plays – lists of which were collated by journalists as well as bespoke crowdsourcing projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gusmiati Suid</span> Indonesian choreographer (1942–2001)

Gusmiati Suid (1942–2001) was an Indonesian dancer and choreographer who specialized in traditional Sumatran, Malay and Minang dances. She studied and later taught dance at the ASKI Performing Arts Academy in Padang Panjang. In 1984, she decided to become a professional choreographer, devoting her efforts to the Gumarang Sakti Dance Company which she had created in 1982. Gusmiati toured widely with the company in the late 1980s and the 1990s, visiting India, France, Germany, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. In her choreographic compositions from 1985 to 1991, she succeeded in combining martial arts-based dances with her own interpretations of Minang music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Indonesia</span> Indonesian theatre

Indonesian theatre is a type of art in the form of drama performances that are staged on a stage, with a distinct Indonesian nuance or background. In general, theatre is an art that emphasizes the performing arts that are displayed in front of a large crowd. In other words, theater is a form of visualisation of a drama that is staged on the stage and watched by the audience. Indonesian theatre includes the performing arts of traditional theater and modern theatre located in the territory of Indonesia. Some examples of Indonesian theater are Arja, Wayang, Wayang wong, Lenong, Ludruk, Janger, Randai and others. Theatre in Indonesia can also be referred to as regional or ethnic theatre, because it originates and develops from 1,300 ethnic cultures in Indonesia.

References

  1. "NonprofitName Internal Revenue Service filings". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
  2. 1 2 Sucato, Steve (25 February 2015). "Attack Theatre co-founders Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope return to the stage". Arts Air. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  3. "Cellist Dave Eggar on His 'Pandora's Box' of Creating Music". International Musician. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2022. Eggar has worked as an occasional music director and musician for Attack Theatre for years.
  4. Cummings, Teresa (15 September 2016). "Attack Theater comes to JMU". The Breeze. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  5. "Attack Theatre on Tour in Indonesia" . The Indonesian National News Agency. 10 June 2006 via General OneFile.
  6. Vranish, Jane (25 July 2006). "Attack Theatre finds Indonesia receptive". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved 15 October 2022. Attack was the first American company in 25 years to play Suribaya.
  7. Dacko, Karen (17 December 2020). "Arts in Pittsburgh: All the World Has Become a Stage". Pittsburgh Magazine . Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  8. O'Driscoll, Bill (11 July 2022). "Performance troupes still face pandemic challenges". WESA (FM) . NPR. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  9. McDevitt, Sinead (3 February 2022). "Unboxing Curiosity at Pittsburgh's Attack Theatre". Pittsburgh Magazine . Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  10. Selvin, Claire (16 August 2018). "Bloomberg Philanthropies Selects Organizations in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh for Arts Innovation and Management Program". ARTnews. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  11. "Know a Theatre: Quantum Theatre of Pittsburgh, PA". American Theatre. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  12. Hentges, Rochelle (9 March 2007). "Attack of the 'Dirty Ball'". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved 15 October 2022. Attack Theatre is known for its edgy, modern-dance performances, often featuring things like steel-beam installations.
  13. Bencivenga, Natalie (13 April 2015). "10th annual Dirty Ball held on South Side". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved 15 October 2022. A party that transcends time and space.
  14. Benz, Kate (12 April 2015). "South Side warehouse in Pittsburgh 'bare'ly contains Dirty Ball festivities". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  15. Baron, Jennifer (30 March 2015). "Oops! They did it again: The Dirty Ball turns 10". NEXTPittsburgh. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  16. Conner, Foo (26 February 2016). "Attack Theatre's One Night Stand". Jekko. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  17. Benz, Kate (14 February 2016). "Fanfare: Attack Theatre's One Night Stand at the Ace Hotel in East Liberty". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved 14 October 2022.