Australia 's Strange Fruit presents Nine Soaring Performances of Swoon! at MASS MoCA
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| Australia's Strange Fruit: Swoon, Photo courtesy of Mass MoCA |
Nord Éclair of France suggests that the performers look "...like living statues soaring between heaven and earth...their heads in the sky, hearts close to the sun...produced brilliantly eclectic images that pay homage to Michelangelo, Mary Poppins, Folon and Margritte." MASS MoCA is the only New England venue for Swoon! which is sponsored by Blue Q.
This Melbourne-based performing arts company produces and performs work that incorporates theatre, dance and circus, using a distinctive elevated medium. Balanced on 15-foot flexible poles -- originally inspired by the image of a field of wheat swaying in the breeze -- the troupe delivers a sublime performance, bending and swaying in the air. The poles' extreme strength and flexibility allow the performers to bow to impossible angles, swaying back and forth in a hypnotizing dance as the audience looks up in wonder.
In North Adams, Strange Fruit will perform Swoon!, a twenty-minute interpretation of The Field, another original piece from their repertoire. Swoon! focuses on four daredevils who are involved in a spectacular story of love, loss, comedy, joy and freedom on high. Accompanied by an eclectic soundtrack which blends classics with original music, Swoon takes the audience on a journey of beauty, love and laughter.
Australia's Strange Fruit has performed at more than 100 international events in more than twenty countries including Australia, France, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Columbia, New Caledonia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Portugal and Denmark, and was awarded second prize at the 1999 and 2000 Shizuoka Daidogei World Cup. Because Strange Fruit performs without dialogue, it speaks to international audiences of all ages. The Australian calls Strange Fruit a "wonderful outdoor entertainment that marries European sensibility with mime, comedia dell'arte, dance, and masterfully hidden athletic skill. Wistful and funny, breathtakingly simple and yet strange and mysterious...sublime."
Tickets for Swoon! are $8. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 10 AM to 6 PM every day. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.
