IMPERFECT
by DREW DOLLAZ, STEVE CONNELL & CHISA YAMAGUCHI
IMPERFECT
World Premiere: September 10, 2021 at Lincoln Center
Brooklyn choreographer/dancer Drew Dollaz is a champion of Flexin’, a gracefully flowing and near-impossibly elastic amalgam of street dance, ballet and modern performance. His newly choreographed small ensemble work, IMPERFECT, commissioned in collaboration with Harlem Stage, is anchored by original works by spoken word artist Steve Connell with creative direction by dance theater director Chisa Yamaguchi. Inspired by a social media campaign to address the rampant effects of bullying and trauma, IMPERFECT, a double entendre of “I’m perfect” and “imperfect,” is a multidisciplinary work that considers how these profound scars can perpetuate deep divisions but just as trauma can be biologically inherited, so too can resilience.
*IMPERFECT was created and developed through Harlem Stage’s Fund for New Work Program. Fund for New Work is supported by the Jerome Foundation. Additional support for the development of IMPERFECT is provided by the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and their Late Stage Stipend grant.
Supported by Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation's Artist-In-Residence Program.
Additional support from The REACH at the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC.
IMPERFECT
Co-presentation by Lincoln Center and Harlem Stage
Produced by Sozo Creative
Directed and Developed by Chisa Yamaguchi
Written and Developed by Steve Connell
Choreography and Original concept: Drew Dollaz
Additional choreography by: Lyndsey Arorash, Erika Citrin, Xavier Days
Music: Daniel Bernard Roumain
Costume consultant: Mandi Line
Producers: Chisa Yamaguchi, Ichun Yeh
“Drew Dollaz is a humble educator, a jaw dropping performer, and a thoughtful risk taker whose work translates across a myriad of communities & platforms. While you can’t quite believe what he does with body, audiences unanimously believe in HIM as an authentic innovator & an emotional conduit for physical storytelling.”
ABOUT DREW DOLLAZ
Drew Dollaz is a pioneer of flexing, a Brooklyn-based genre of street dance also referred to as bone breaking, which is characterized by rhythmic contortionist movements. A self-taught dancer, Dollaz’ signature work blends flexing with other genres of movement, including ballet, to create a transcendent hybrid of movement artistry.
Dollaz has performed and partnered with a broad range of artists and brands, including Madonna, Rihanna, Skrillex, Red Bull, Sony, Aloft Hotels, and Billboard. His performances on Madonna’s MDNA tour in 2012 marked the first time flexing appeared on the world stage. Next Level Squad, a New York City collective of flexing dancers in which Dollaz performs and choreographs, has garnered more than a million views on YouTube and has been featured on shows including The Breakin’ Convention, and America’s Got Talent.
He choreographed and performs in The Just and The Blind, a collaboration with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain and spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the work premiered to a sold out audience at Carnegie in March 2019. The evening length piece has since been presented at the Kennedy Center’s opening festival for The REACH and continues to tour across the US. Dollaz stars in ABOUT FACE, an award-winning short film produced by Sozo & directed by Yoram Savion of YAK Films, and looks forward to the release of his acting debut in a feature length film.
Movement For Human Rights, a component of Dollaz’ newest work #IMPERFECT, was performed to an audience of more than 70,000 at Budapest’s Sziget Festival in 2019. #IMPERFECT is currently in creative development and will premiere in 2020.
Arts education and youth empowerment are core tenets of Dollaz’ work and he currently mentors young dancers and gives master classes around the world, including at the Kennedy Center for participants ranging from ages 5 through 70.
