Doug Elkins began his career as a B-boy, and spent the summer of 1982 as a Jacob’s Pillow scholarship student. He has since received many significant commissions and awards including two Bessies (New York Dance and Performance Awards), the Brandeis University Creative Arts Medal, and a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship, while a Pillow Creative Development Residency led to Hapless Bizarre. He first presented Fräulein Maria at Joe’s Pub in New York, inspired by countless viewings of The Sound of Music, first as a child and then as a father. Fräulein Maria‘s Bessie citation noted that it “took us from the snow-capped peaks of Hollywood through the worlds of ‘downtown’ dance, Martha Graham, Willi Ninja, Balanchine, hip-hop, voguing, stepping, stomping, whirling, and flying like wild geese with the moon on their wings.” This production toured across the U.S. and Canada, including a Pillow engagement in 2009. The performance seen here was the culmination of the company’s “So Long, Farewell Tour.”
Read More
