When Marco Gerris took his high-octane show to Sydney Opera House, people were surprised.
Elements of Freestyle is not the sort of thing one expects at such a venue, he says. The production is not traditional theatre or traditional circus or traditional anything, for that matter. It is an adrenaline-fuelled explosion of extreme urban sports, dance, music and theatre.
Gerris, the founder and artistic director of the Netherlands’ ISH Dance Collective, likes the idea of blowing audiences away and he hopes to do the same at Brisbane Festival when Elements of Freestyle performs at Brisbane Powerhouse, September 24 to 27.
“It was a blast at the Sydney Opera House,” Gerris says. “People didn’t expect it. I’m sure it was the first time anyone saw something like that in that venue.”
Mind you, he describes his show as “very theatrical”. As well as hip-hop beats, there is a cellist and violin player among the retinue.
You might like
“They support the audio track and play their own songs too,” Gerris says. “While it is theatrical there is not really a storyline from A to Z. But people love it and they always come out with a big smile.”
Elements of Freestyle is about those redeeming seconds that make a complicated trick ultimately succeed – the freestylers’ total focus on the moment, the ecstasy and the feeling of complete and total freedom. In a fusion of breakdance, inline skating, skateboarding, freestyle basketball, BMX and free running, ISH reveals the artistry behind the tricks of extreme sports.
Gerris, 50, was born in the Philippines but grew up in Belgium. He studied dance and theatre and eventually ended up in Amsterdam where he worked as a dancer, skater and actor. He was Dutch Freestyle Skating Champion at one point in his career.
Subscribe for updates
ISH Dance Collective combines a range of disciplines. The name ISH comes from the English suffix “ish” and suggests the show is a little bit this, a little bit that, something indefinable.
“During a meeting with an American dancer I talked about everything I wanted to do, everything I find inspiring and about my reluctance to choose just one discipline,” Gerris explains. “He told me – you are ISH, you’re a bit of everything and that’s your strength.”
‘It’s about the lifestyle, how the performers treat each other with respect and it’s about how to support each other while searching for the edge’
Twenty-three years later, ISH has grown into an internationally renowned company that reaches a diverse audience. Gerris, who served as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance in Holland for two seasons, says the program elevated his profile.
“Suddenly everyone recognised me,” he says. He says Elements of Freestyle is more than just a spectacle.
“There’s no storyline but you will understand the performance,” he says. “It’s about the lifestyle, how the performers treat each other with respect and it’s about how to support each other while searching for the edge.”
Turning extreme sorts into an art form has been his life’s work since he stopped performing and focussed on directing 15 years ago. He brings a cast of 12 to Brisbane Festival and says he can’t wait to wow us all.
Elements of Freestyle, ISH Dance Collective, Brisbane Powerhouse, September 24 to 27.