Ivy Substation (Culver City, CA)
Dance troupe Mental Head Circus and hula hoop enthusiasts Hoopdawgz create an intoxicating vaudeville circus that pulses with dance, humor, hula hoops and bawdy allure. This physical performance fuses avant-garde style with intricate movement and transitions for unparalleled aerial performances. Part of the Actors' Gang WTF?! Festival.
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The last date listed for Mental Head Circus and Hoopdawgz was Thursday November 5, 2009 / 8:00pm. (view all dates)
Currently at Ivy Substation:
Academy Award-winner and Actor's Gang Artistic Director Tim Robbins' new drama Break the Whip tells the story of the colony of Jamestown, 1607, which suffered yet endured over a decade before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. This workshop performance is written and directed by Robbins and includes a talk back session after the performance for audience feedback. Learn More
Mental Head Circus and Hoopdawgz
Give 'em enough rope and ill 'ang 'imself.
Didn't happen.
A massive amount of rope was given, and this troupe of high suspension dancers and cabaret artists handled it all. They kept performing one spectacular act after another using hoops and rectangles suspended from theater rafters. It left us with our mouths hanging open, and polite amounts of spittle dripping daintily down our chin.
The best acts were the rope acts, performed as you wish on yards & yards of shiny fabric, even more yards of dull fabric, and my personal favorite, double hanks of plain old rough ranch rope. The woman who did that act was absolutely awesome; twisting, splitting, dropping, all without benefit of a net, and with bizare music.
Many of the suspension acts are performed solo, and held our fascination. The duets are sensual and mesmerizing.
One act had an excellent modern dance component intentionally funny yet wonderful.
The Hoopdancers belonged to another dance troupe. They were absolutely lovely; manuevering with hoops, flags and lights.
For me the weakest link, really not weak at all, but I'm just saying .... by comparison, was the burlesque-cabaret part. It was definitely good entertainment. Fun costumes, and cabaret is always a surefire crowd pleaser. It just didn't stand up to the more amazing aerial acts.
It's my understanding that the dance troupe leader is also a dance instructor. I haven't taken any dance classes, and can't speak to their effectiveness at turning you from a keyboard-banging dweeb into a twisty, contortiony, high-flying dancer.
hard working crew & cast in a very entertaining show. The lovely re-modelled theatre has comfy raised seating for good view, great heated patio music/bar & easy parking. Nice evening out.
Most of the time, we felt like we were at a talent competition or a post Burning Man party. Silk scarf twirling? Really? If the producers happen to read this, the first hoop act should really be cut. She's good for a girl in the park or "look what my sister can do", but for a stage, its very disappointing to see someone do hoop tricks that are on my intro to hooping dvd. Having hula hoops in the title, I was expecting something more. Kept waiting for someone to spin 20 hoops, or fire, or something I haven't seen a young girl on youtube do before.
Had a few good acts, a lot of dance numbers (and we're not dance number fans, you might be), I guess I've just seen too many spot on circusy events where I'm not afraid the hoop girl is gonna drop the hoop.
Tim Robins introducing the show was a cool surprise. The venue is great - back yard with a bar and seats is really nice in a theater.
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The Ivy Substation was constructed in 1907 by the Los Angeles Pacific Railway and was operated as one of its largest electric substations. The historic Mission Revival style building has been completely renovated and transformed into a performing arts center.
Website: http://www.wtffestival.theactorsgang.com/calendar.html#nov4
Dance troupe Mental Head Circus and Hoopdawgz, create an intoxicating vaudeville circus that pulses with dance, humor, hula hoops and bawdy allure. The alluring visual masterpiece integrates extensive knowledge of movement and the human body. The avant-garde style fused with intricate movement and transitions make for unparalleled aerial performances.
The Actors' Gang is one of Los Angeles' most enduring theatre ensembles. Founded in 1981 by a group of renegade theatre artists, the Gang's mission is to create bold, original works for the stage and daring reinterpretations of the classics. Our work is raw, immediate, socially minded, and crafted with the highest artistic standards. Over the course of our first 20 years we have produced 68 plays and won over 100 awards, winning acclaim for our interpretations of Shakespeare, Bruchner, Brecht, Moliere, Aeschylus, Ibsen and Chekhov, while developing in workshop new plays that address the world today through a prism of satire, popular culture and raucous stagecraft. Through co-productions, The Actors' Gang presented the West Coast Premiere of Eric Bogosian's "Suburbia" with the Namaste Theatre Company, Roger Guenver Smith's "A Huey P. Newton Story," Danny Hoch's "Jails, Hospitals, Hip Hop" with Center Theatre Group, and "Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella" with The Cornerstone Theatre Company. The Actors' Gang has toured with productions as the US representative at the Edinburgh Festival and to New York's Public Theatre with "Carnage, A Comedy"; with "The Imaginary Invalid" to the Rushmore Festival in New York, and in 2001 saw "Bat Boy, A Musical," developed at the Actors' Gang, won the Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics award for best new musical Off-Broadway in New York.
