Elisabeth Streb

Elizabeth Streb was born in 1950 in Rochester, NY.

she graduated from the dance program of the State University of New York at Brockport in 1972. After graduating, she worked and performed with Molissa Fenley. In 1973, she travelled to San Francisco to work and perform with Margaret Jenkins. She returned to New York in 1975 and created her dance company STREB/Ringside.

In the early 1990s, Streb was commissioned by Batsheva’s artistic director Ohad Naharin to choreograph for the company. She created three dances for Batsheva, the first for a company not her own: Little Ease – a solo for a dancer inside a box (1990); Rebound – a dance for six between two high walls (1990); and Soaring – a trio for dancers hanging by cables in the air (1991).
In 2003, Streb established SLAM (Streb Lab for Action Mechanics) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 2010 she stopped performing herself but she still choreographs for her company. Her best-known dances include Wild Blue Yonder (2003), Streb vs. Gravity (2006), and One Extraordinary Day (2012).
In 2010, Streb’s book, STREB: How to Become an Extreme Action Hero, was published by The Feminist Press. In 2014, Streb starred in Catherine Gund’s documentary BORN TO FLY: Streb vs. Gravity.

Elizabeth Streb is a recipient of numerous awards and grants. In 1987, she received a grant from John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. In 1996 she was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award. In 1997, she was awarded a fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (sometimes called a “Genius” grant). She also received two New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Awards (1988, 1999). Finally, in 2013 she received a Doris Duke Artist Award.