DASSdance boogyin’ to aid underprivileged kids
DASSdance presents Poor Man’s Boogie
Thurs-Fri May 22-23, 2008, 8pm
37 Arts – Baryshnikov Arts Center
Howard Gilman Performance Space, 4th Floor
New York, New York 10018
$15 General Admission
www.paperbrowntickets.com/event/33409
Poor Man’s Boogie is Daniel Wilkins’ sixth full-length premiere for his athletic and no-holds-barred company of eight dancers. Motivated by his personal experiences as an artist struggling with the harsh reality of continual financial instability, Wilkins’ newest project, Poor Man’s Boogie takes on poverty and isn’t afraid to take its cause out into the real world.
University Settlement will host a special presentation of Poor Man’s Boogie for participants of The Beacon, the Settlement’s free after-school program for children and teens providing arts classes, sports, and tutoring. 
In addition, DASS will collect donations during its performances at Baryshnikov Arts Center on behalf of the Performance Project at the University Settlement. The Performance Project brings innovative performing arts to the immigrant-heavy and low-income families of the Lower East Side at an affordable price.
Poor Man’s Boogie is a work that confronts the confinement of the lower class across the rural and urban landscapes of America. Hardship and struggle mingle with and motivate desperate schemes to climb the social ladder. Dependency and lack of social support are frictions exploding in outbursts of resentment and abuse. Wilkins’ treatment of poverty is unashamedly irreverent, showing a milieu of recognizable characters on the edge of extreme situations incurred from a relentless cycle of hunger, powerlessness, and violence. Using a multi-media approach to immerse its audience in this world, the work samples from music that has been the creative fruit of such struggles throughout American history, such as jazz, blues, and hip-hop. It also incorporates footage of the New York subway and rural homesteads of Eastern Washington to assist this compelling story.
A short Q&A with Artistic Director Daniel Wilkins and company dancers will follow each performance.
Warning: Poor Man’s Boogie contains adult language, mild adult content, and intense situations that may not be suitable for some children.