- Elbows Akimbo
Elbows Akimbo was an
Avant Garde performance art ensemble that emerged from San Francisco'sunderground 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 directorThomas 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://www.dianarama.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 and Hannah Sim, dancer/choreographer Ellie Herman, actor/writer/director Michael Edo Keane [http://www.likethesun.net] , 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 Diane Jackson, actor/playwright Tanya Shaffer, and author Carol Lloyd.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 Lifeand 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 Dance Theatre, Rob Brezny's World Entertainment War,
Crash Worship ,Nao Bustamante , Paul Benny, Beth Custer,The Beatnigs , Dude Theatre and George Coates Performance Works.
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