Women of the World, Independent Lens, Global Voices
Motherland Afghanistan
An Afghan American and her father travel to Afghanistan to bring medical expertise to the women most susceptible to maternal mortality.
Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity
Not just a choreographer, Elizabeth Streb is a wildly extreme action architect. Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity traces the evolution of Streb’s movement philosophy as she pushes herself and her dancers from the ground, to the wall, and to the sky.
- Series
- Independent Lens
- Premiere Date
- May 11, 2015
- Length
- 60 minutes
Director
Catherine Gund
Catherine Gund is an Emmy-nominated producer, director, writer, and organizer. Her media work focuses on arts and culture, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, the environment, and other social justice issues. Her films have screened around the world in festivals, theaters, museums, and schools; on PBS, Discovery’s Planet Green, and the Sundance… Show more
- Other ITVS Films
- Motherland Afghanistan
- A Touch of Greatness
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The Film
Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity is the story of a choreographer sometimes called "the Evel Knievel of dance." In over 30 years of practice, she is the pioneer of a movement form called “POPACTION,” which is couched in the exploration of human potential – both physical and emotional. Guided by Elizabeth Streb’s theory of movement – to walk on walls, dive through glass, move so fast dancers disappear and fly – the film asks: Can adrenaline be a form of medicine? When does movement become art?
Born to Fly traces the evolution of the “extreme action architect“ Streb’s more than 30 years of movement philosophy, and culminates with Streb and her dancers preparing and presenting gravity-defying performances in London’s Cultural Olympiad leading up to the 2012 Olympics.
