Park Avenue Armory Dance Commission 'FLEXN' Begins Today
Park Avenue Armory has commissioned dance pioneer Reggie (Regg Roc) Gray and visionary director Peter Sellars to create a performance piece that evolves the tradition of flex, the Brooklyn-born street dance. Characterized by sharp, rhythmic contortion, pausing, snapping, gliding, bone-breaking, and animated showmanship, the flex form evolved from the Jamaican bruk-up style popular in the dance halls and reggae clubs of Brooklyn in the 1990s. Opening today, March 25 and marking the first major presentation of the Armory's 2015 artistic season, FLEXN transforms the dance from its individual, combative style to create a collaborative work of social commentary inspired by both personal experience and current events. A series of public discussions and education initiatives complement the presentation.