Streb How to Become an Extreme Action Hero

Elizabeth Streb has been testing the potential of the human body since childhood. Can she fly? Can she run up walls? Can she break through glass? How fast can she go? With clarity and humorandmdash;and with a world-class dance troupe called STREBandmdash;she continues to investigate what real movement is and has come to these conclusions: It's off the ground! It creates impact! It hurts trying to stop it! In this pathbreaking book, Streb combines memoir and analysis to convey how she became an extreme action dancer/choreographer, developing a form of movement that's more NASCAR than modern dance; more boxing than ballet.

Once called the Evel Knievel of dance, Elizabeth Streb intertwines the disciplines of dance, athletics, rodeo, the circus, and Hollywood stunt-work. She founded STREB in 1985, which performs internationally in theaters, museums, and town squares. She established S.L.A.M. (STREB Lab for Action Mechanics) in 2003, a factory space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which produces a cottage industry of extreme action performances and invites everyday people to wonder about movement, gravity, and flight.

Actor, playwright, and author Anna Deavere Smith is performing her latest play Let Me Down Easy off-Broadway, and she appears on Showtime's Nurse Jackie.

"Fearlessness and intelligence combined—that is what makes Elizabeth Streb's work so potent and beautiful."—Mikhail Baryshnikov

"[Streb]…has long been a pioneer in blending gymnastics, dance, acrobatics and sheer daredevil insanity, and many have seen her work as an exhibition of pure dance energy."—New York Times

"Streb is a glorious acrobatic adventure."—The Guardian

"Streb cooks up a vibrant stew that's part circus, part sporting event, part theater, part student recital, and part scrupulous time-motion-energy investigation. The neighborhood sniffs the aroma and crowds in the door."—Village Voice

"Fearlessness and intelligence combinedand#151;that is what makes Elizabeth Streb's work so potent and beautiful."and#151;Mikhail Baryshnikov

"[Streb]and#133;has long been a pioneer in blending gymnastics, dance, acrobatics and sheer daredevil insanity, and many have seen her work as an exhibition of pure dance energy."and#151;New York Times

"Streb is a glorious acrobatic adventure."and#151;The Guardian

"Streb cooks up a vibrant stew that's part circus, part sporting event, part theater, part student recital, and part scrupulous time-motion-energy investigation. The neighborhood sniffs the aroma and crowds in the door."and#151;Village Voice

"Ah, finally an artist who is not afraid of handling live eels, confronting an army of rats or diving head first through a panel of glass! Elizabeth Streb also recalls carrying enormous pails of water back and forth from a river when she was 10, riding her first motorcycle at age 15, and how at 18 she once held a sheet-rock panel above her head for an entire afternoon waiting for a never-returning carpenter! In this inspiring and passionate book, ultra-tenacious Elizabeth shares with the reader some of her surrealist goals: leaving a room through the walls; never landing after jumping; and moving so fast that you stand stilland#133;Wow!"and#151;Philippe Petit

An inspiring memoir and self-help guide to greatness by the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov calls "fearlessness and intelligence combined . . . potent and beautiful."

Called "the Evel Knievel of Dance," Elizabeth Streb has been pushing boundaries and testing the potential of the human body since childhood. Can she fly? Can she run up walls? Can she break through glass? How fast can she go?

With clarity and humor--and with her internationally-renowned dance troupe STREB--she continues to investigate what movement truly is and has come to these conclusions: It's off the ground It creates impact And it hurts trying to stop

Here, Streb combines memoir and analysis to convey how she became an extreme action dancer and choreographer, developing a form of movement that's more NASCAR than modern dance, more boxing than ballet, and more than most people can handle "in this dizzying, inspirational self-help" books (Publishers Weekly, starred review).