Storyboard P
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Storyboard P and his troupe, the Warriorz, bring their stylized street dance to Club B-10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday, February 28, 2015, at 8pm. Storyboard P has been called “the Basquiat of street dance,” and “a man whose dancing seems to belong less to the limitations of the human body and more to the magic of special effects.”
Kinetic, fluid, and utterly mesmerizing, Storyboard P elevates street dancing to a form of high art with his explosive energy, smooth yet spasmodic style, and perpetually in-the-moment stage presence. Storyboard, only 23, is the world’s reigning star of flex, a narrative style of street dance characterized by gravity-defying footwork and intricate body contortion reminiscent of stop-motion animation. The New Yorker raves, “although Storyboard can twist, curve, and crumple his body with a calligrapher’s control, he likes to disrupt fluid motion with tremors and twitches, so that he appears to flicker, like a figure in a zoetrope.”
The “Storyboard” of his stage name references flex’s unique ability to tell stories through movement that mimics the frames of a film, and “P” references his previous performance moniker, “Professoar,” an alias alluding to the white lab coat he performed in at the time, as well as his ability to seemingly fly above the floor as he dances. He typically improvises his performances, preferring to be inspired by the music in the moment. Combined with his flamboyant, eccentric taste in clothing, his shows are always spontaneous. For his MASS MoCA show, he brings his dance crew, the Warriorz.
Born Saalim Muslim in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, Storyboard P grew up dancing. He briefly received formal ballet training as a child at the Harlem School of the Arts, but cites the people he observed on the streets of New York City as his main source of inspiration. He began competing in dance battles at age 13, and won the title of “King of the Streets” at the first BattleFest flex tournament in 2007. Storyboard P was a notable participant in Jay-Z’s video for Picasso Baby, a performance art piece inspired by Marina Abramovi?. He performs regularly all over New York City, especially in Brooklyn, and online videos of his dancing have been viewed over ten million times.
Storyboard P and the Warriorz perform in MASS MoCA’s Club B-10 on Saturday, February 28, at 8pm. Dinner and snacks are available from Lickety Split before and during the show. A full bar serves Berkshire Brewing Company beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits. Tickets are $5 for members, $8 for students, $12 in advance, $18 day of, and $24 preferred. Tickets for all events are available through the MASS MoCA box office located on Marshall Street in North Adams, open 11am – 5pm Wednesdays through Mondays; closed Tuesdays through Spring 2015. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during box office hours or purchased on-line at MASS MoCA. All events are held rain or shine.