Event

Poor Man's Boogie

Poor Mans Boogie is Daniel Wilkins sixth full-length premiere for his athletic and no-holds-barred company of eight dancers. Motivated by his personal experiences as an artist struggling with the harsh reality of continual financial instability, Wilkins newest project is as textually ambitious as previous works that fearlessly broached topics like teen literacy (Out of the Dust, 2006) and religious diversity around the globe (Religilistic, 2004).

Poor Mans Boogie is an exploration of the confinement of the lower class across the rural and urban landscapes of America. Hardship and struggle mingle with and motivate desperate schemes to climb the social ladder. Dependency and lack of social support are frictions exploding in outbursts of resentment and abuse. Wilkins treatment of poverty is unashamedly irreverent, showing a milieu of recognizable characters on the edge of extreme situations incurred from a relentless cycle of hunger, powerlessness, and violence.

DASS uses its multi-media approach to immerse its audience in this world, using music that has been the creative fruit of such struggles throughout American history, such as jazz, blues, and hip-hop. It also incorporates footage of the New York subway and rural homesteads of Eastern Washington, as well as the powerful spoken word poetry of Amy Mahoney to assist in telling this story.

A short Q&A with Artistic Director Daniel Wilkins and company dancers will follow each performance.