(CHATHAM, N.Y.) – The month-long Chatham Dance Festival at PS21 kicks off with Brian Sanders JUNK on Friday and Saturday, August 7 and 8, at 8pm. Known for their ingenious use of found objects and clever inventions, this Philadelphia-based company bridges the gap between dance and physical theater. “I love dance as much as everything else, but I don’t call the members of JUNK ‘dancers’ but rather, ‘performers,’” Sanders explained. “Dance is a common vocabulary within which we communicate as a troupe but I avoid defining us by it. I consider most of what other people consider acrobatics, dance, just in the air or not necessarily on the ground.”

 

Sanders has built his signature style by creating inventive, off-the-wall choreography with found objects and other discarded debris. “One of the driving principals behind JUNK is taking something conventional or traditional and turning it into something new. We don’t reject the convention but revitalize it,” explained choreographer and founder Brian Sanders. “What I initially started to see as inspiring objects were items I found on the street.”

 

One of Sanders original found objects was a garment rack. “When I first moved into a loft in the garment district it had stuff left over from the business that had been there previously,” explained Sanders. “One of those items was a garment rack (just like the ones they push up 7th Avenue). I began to play on the rack, and eventually “the rack” became a movement piece that evoked Mapplethorpe and the Vitruvian Man.”

 

Sanders’ choreography blends traditional dance theater with an inventiveness and physicality that has been described as “dare-devilish physical theater.” “I love dance as much as everything else, but I don’t call the members of JUNK ‘dancers’ but rather, ‘performers,’” Sanders explained. “Dance is a common vocabulary within which we communicate as a troupe but I avoid defining us by it. I consider most of what other people consider acrobatics, dance, just in the air or not necessarily on the ground.”

This show is part of the Chatham Dance Festival, which runs throughout the month of August at PS21, located at 2980 Route 66 in the Town of Chatham.

Tickets for the Friday and Saturday performances of Brian Sanders JUNK are $30 general admission, $25 PS21 members and $18 students. Tickets can be purchased at PS21, by calling 1-800-838-3006, or at the door until the show sells out. For other information about this or any other event at PS21, please call (518) 392-6121.

 

PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century is a not-for-profit organization in Chatham, NY, dedicated to the performing arts and to serving a diverse community with concerts, programs and residencies by professional artists and ensembles, youth and children’s programming and cultural education opportunities for all ages.