Elbows Akimbo
Encyclopedia
Elbows Akimbo was an Avant Garde performance art
ensemble that emerged from San Francisco's underground scene of the late 1980s and stopped producing work in the mid 1990s.
Originally an outgrowth of San Francisco State University
's progressive department: the Center for Experimental and Interdisciplinary Arts, it was founded by director Thomas Schulz, who selected members who excelled in a range of disciplines including dance, music, design, and writing.
The original group had eleven members, including certain key performers who have gone on to have interesting careers. These include Diana Rosalind Trimble http://66witches.wordpress.com, vocalist, composer, writer, and actor; Alisa Froman, dancer, choregorapher and actor; Michael Calvello, writer and actor; Kalonica McQuesten, vocalist and musician; Kevin McKereghan, sound engineer; Nancy Beckman, musician.
Later additions to the group who have also continued in the performing arts include movement artists Mark Steger http://www.osseuslabyrint.net/ and Hannah Sim, dancer/choreographer Ellie Herman, actor/writer/director Michael Edo Keane, harpist/composer Barbara Imhoff, vocalist, actor and educator Susan Volkan, illustrator/designer Barron Storey
http://www.barronstorey.com, actor/writer Johnna Schmidt, actor/director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
, director Mark Waters, actor Rebecca Klingler, actor John Flanagan, actor/director Ricky Camus of New Orleans, actor/director Diane Jackson, actor/playwright Tanya Shaffer, author Carol Lloyd, Hungarian poet, translator, performance artist Gabor G. Gyukics
, actor Salim Abdul-Jelani, actor Lewis Sims and actor/dancer Jody Ellsworth among others.
and tended to feature meditations on the opposing extremes of mysticism and profanity.
Elbows Akimbo was connected to a web formed by other experimental artists of the time, such as Contraband
, Rob Brezny's World Entertainment War, Crash Worship
, Nao Bustamante, Paul Benny, Beth Custer, The Beatnigs
, Dude Theatre and George Coates Performance Works.
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ensemble that emerged from San Francisco's underground scene of the late 1980s and stopped producing work in the mid 1990s.
Originally an outgrowth of San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
's progressive department: the Center for Experimental and Interdisciplinary Arts, it was founded by director Thomas Schulz, who selected members who excelled in a range of disciplines including dance, music, design, and writing.
The original group had eleven members, including certain key performers who have gone on to have interesting careers. These include Diana Rosalind Trimble http://66witches.wordpress.com, vocalist, composer, writer, and actor; Alisa Froman, dancer, choregorapher and actor; Michael Calvello, writer and actor; Kalonica McQuesten, vocalist and musician; Kevin McKereghan, sound engineer; Nancy Beckman, musician.
Later additions to the group who have also continued in the performing arts include movement artists Mark Steger http://www.osseuslabyrint.net/ and Hannah Sim, dancer/choreographer Ellie Herman, actor/writer/director Michael Edo Keane, harpist/composer Barbara Imhoff, vocalist, actor and educator Susan Volkan, illustrator/designer Barron Storey
Barron Storey
Barron Storey is an art teacher and artist. He is famous for his accomplishments as an illustrator and fine artist, and for his influence on several professional illustrators and writers, including Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave McKean, Simon Bisley, Bill Koeb, Kent Williams, George Pratt...
http://www.barronstorey.com, actor/writer Johnna Schmidt, actor/director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Charles Herman-Wurmfeld is an American film director.- External links :...
, director Mark Waters, actor Rebecca Klingler, actor John Flanagan, actor/director Ricky Camus of New Orleans, actor/director Diane Jackson, actor/playwright Tanya Shaffer, author Carol Lloyd, Hungarian poet, translator, performance artist Gabor G. Gyukics
Gabor G. Gyukics
Gabor G. Gyukics is a Hungarian American poet and literary translator, has been living in the United States since 1988. He is translating American poetry to Hungarian and Hungarian poetry to American English....
, actor Salim Abdul-Jelani, actor Lewis Sims and actor/dancer Jody Ellsworth among others.
Productions
In chronological order- Enter the World of Beatrice
- Asylum
- The Tempest: a Radical Deconstruction
- O Flame of Living Love
- Carnevale
- Bhagavad-Gita: the War Within,
- JFK/Marat
- At the Speed of Life
and tended to feature meditations on the opposing extremes of mysticism and profanity.
Elbows Akimbo was connected to a web formed by other experimental artists of the time, such as Contraband
Contraband (performance group)
Contraband, a collection of artists led by director/choreographer Sara Shelton Mann, was a dance-based, live performance ensemble, that worked together from 1985 to the mid ‘90s. Based mainly in San Francisco, the group became known for its lively, electrifying performances, often...
, Rob Brezny's World Entertainment War, Crash Worship
Crash Worship
Crash Worship or ADRV was a San Diego based experimental-aktionist-industrial-noise performance group formed in 1986. Most renowned for its live shows in which three stand-up percussionists hammered out concussive poly-rhythms to abstract mutated guitar, synthesizers, effects and dualling vocalists...
, Nao Bustamante, Paul Benny, Beth Custer, The Beatnigs
The Beatnigs
The Beatnigs were a San Francisco band, which combined hard-core punk, industrial and hip hop influences, described as "a kind of avant-guard industrial jazz poets collective". The band was the initial collaboration of Michael Franti and Rono Tse, who would later form Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy...
, Dude Theatre and George Coates Performance Works.