Return of Streb

Child, now nearly three years older, resumes chaotic jumping and climbing class of her youth

There is a documentary that you can watch on YouTube about Elizabeth Streb, the founding choreographer of the eponymous dance company that hosts Kina’s little chaos class. The kids’ class is a lot tamer than what you see in the film, to be fair. Like the children, the professional dancers throw themselves at mats and leap from towers. It is thrilling. Unlike the children, the adults court serious injury in service of their art. The kids just slide into each other at the bottoms of ramps.

Kina started going to Streb, whose studio is in our neighborhood, when she was two or three—the smallest kid in the smallest class. Just as she got going with it, the city shut down, and Streb with it. Though the dancers have been back for a while, it’s only very recently that they reopened for the kiddos. The fact that they are still around after that long break is a testament to their staying power (and no doubt some intense fundraising and real estate negotiation).

Now Kina is with the bigger kids, but still the smaller of the bigger kids. They still throw themselves off things, but I assume the things are taller now. When we asked her if she was one of the big kids, she replied, “No. There are bigger kids, and they are tweens, and the biggest kids are teens, and they swing on big monkey bars and wear belts that they take off when they fall on the bouncy castle but do not take them home.”

We think she means the trapeze, which we have depicted in todays edition. Someday she will swing on them, too, which is terrifying and exciting in equal measure. I think that is the point.

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