Attack Theatre’s ‘Holidays and Hops’ is the Holiday Event for All Age Groups
onStage Pittsburgh - Whether the hustle and bustle of the holiday season has left you feeling like the Grinch, or you are one candy cane away from becoming Buddy the Elf, Attack Theatre’s Holidays and Hops is guaranteed to spread relaxing holiday cheer to all ages. With the clever tagline, “a dance event with cheer and craft beer,” Holiday Hops combines the best of Attack Theater’s innovative dance styles with Trace Brewing’s crafted libations and mocktails. Holiday Hops is happening this Friday, December 12. Prior to the event, I had the pleasure of speaking with Attack Theatre’s Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director, Michele de la Reza.
She provided an overview of the evening, noting that guests are welcomed starting at 7:30 at Attack Theater Studios. “When you walk in, we will have all kinds of holiday-themed games,” de la Reza explained. “There is a candy cane croquet game, a present relay, and a Nerf gun “you’ll shoot your eye out” game. There is also a word scramble where players can try to unscramble words, and Attack Theatre’s performers will improv to represent what the unscrambled word would look and feel like when translated into dance. These activities encapsulate Attack Theatre’s mission to articulate the relationship between physicality and mental acuity, and the importance of movement and artistic expression, de la Reza noted that these activities are completely voluntary and can be enjoyed or spectated by the young and young at heart.
While participating in games, guests can enjoy a beverage from Trace Brewing, which will feature a selection of its craft beers, as well as holiday-themed cocktails and mocktails. At 8:00, guests will enjoy a 35-minute performance of Holiday Unwrapped. This “light-hearted, signature” Attack Theatre performance is a reimagining of a work choreographed years ago, and de la Reza emphasized how excited the company is to dive back into this piece and rediscover its relevancy with a new cast after over a decade. “We have not done a holiday gathering since before the pandemic,” de la Reza explained. “This is Attack Theatre’s 30th anniversary season, so we were reflecting on what got us here and also looking at what’s coming next. We were reminded of this joyous dance work that was choreographed some years ago.”
Holiday Unwrapped is a piece that focuses on the joy of the simple pleasures the holidays offer, not on material items. With a little creativity and imagination, a sock transforms into an ice skate, and performers contemplate what to do with only one shoe, de la Reza shared that the piece features a variety of musical genres, from Classical to Western to Rock, and even includes Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas.” The music in Holiday Unwrapped runs the gamut, and the framework of the show is centered on the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but the audience lands in different vignettes that have wonderful partnering and uses props in extremely different ways to tell a beautiful story.
“Holiday Unwrapped is created for the holidays because sometimes this time of year can be stressful, and people end up just going through the motions and expectations,” de la Reza stated. “Both the dance and the structure of the evening breaks that down stress for a little while and gives you a chance to just chill out. The show reminds us that it’s not about the fanciest gifts, but rather what you do with the gifts and the folks you are with,” she continued.
de la Reza reiterated that you can enjoy the evening with or without kids, as the show and the evening offer something for everyone. Holiday Unwrapped will conclude around 8:45, when guests will be invited to return to game-playing and libation-sipping. Each show ticket includes a complimentary drink ticket.
de la Reza spoke fondly of the partnership between Attack Theatre and Trace, noting that, in addition to sharing a neighborhood, both businesses focus on excellence in their work and lead with a community-focused mission. “We both really wanted to center in on making connections with intention and having fun together over the holidays, and libations or mocktails is a great way to add to your holiday cheer.”
After two successful shows this past season (Some Assembly Required and Enron), de la Reza noted that Attack Theatre has not provided their “audience with the opportunity to gather in our space in a communal and collaborative setting. We are excited for everyone to gather, to connect, interact, and to experience a joyous performance and launch into the New Year together.”
To de la Reza, Holidays and Hops is a true reflection of Attack Theatre’s values and goals. “Since the beginning of Attack Theatre, we strive to create passionate portrayals of everyday life and have [those portrayals] bridge the work we do in education and in theater. We believe that movement is an essential part of learning and living. It is inherent that dance cannot exist solely in our own bubbles. Dance and movement are reflections of who we are and those with whom we interact, both near and far.” Holiday and Hops, specifically Holiday Unwrapped, is a reflection and response to the idea of connectedness through dance. “Community without connection, de la Reza continued, “without speaking and moving with others in real-time, you miss that first person or firsthand research of what it feels like – what the energy is like when we are in a room together, when we are moving together, and what it feels like just to be together. A connection with our community is embedded in our creative process.”
de la Reza concluded by saying that events like Holidays and Hops are crafted specifically to blur the line between a community event and a party, and are deliberately developed to feel very authentic to both the creation of art and the building of a relationship with the audience. “We have a responsibility as dancers and movement artists because every single body moves in some manner or another,” de la Reza explained. “We are the movers and need to reach out to people intentionally through performances and events like this to make sure that physicality is nurtured.”
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Holidays and Hops takes place this Friday, December 12 at 7:30pm at Attack Theatre Studios in Lawrenceville. More information and tickets at: https://www.attacktheatre.com/hops