Gravity is the tendency of objects with mass to accelerate and accrete toward each other. It keeps us grounded and it keeps us in our orbit around the sun. It also informs our understanding of how the world supposedly works. On Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28–29, 2011, the Florida Dance Association and Tigertail will present the Florida Premiere of Jess Curtis/Gravity Dances for Non/Fictional Bodies, a performance that will reshape and expand our the gravity of what the body is and what it can do.

Dances for Non/Fictional Bodies is a “danceAble” event, a project for able and non-able dancers that focuses on dance as a “vital art form for persons with and without disabilities.” Dances for Non/Fictional Bodies is a performance-based project that combines installation and cirque arts that examines and challenges society’s (mis)conception of the ideal body. This idealization of the body creates a “’fictional body’ that disables individuals in terms of their ability to see others and to be seen as beautiful, empowered and autonomous people.”

Described as “an in-your-face orgy of transformation and undressing” by Lothar Krone from Maerkische Allgemeine Zeitung, Dances for Non/Fictional Bodies lives up to the Jess Curtis/Gravity ideal of addressing and undressing substantive social issues through the beauty and power of dance. The premiere will include nudity and feature a company of artists from Germany, France, Italy, England and the United States, including Claire Cunningham, Jörg Müller, Maria Francesca Scaroni, David Toole and Jess Curtis.

Jess Curtis/Gravity was founded in 2000 as a research and development vehicle for very live performance. Gravity also produces and facilitates educational experiences for both professionals and lay people in movement and performing arts. The company, in residence for a week in Miami, will offer workshops and discussions for able and non-able individuals.

Workshops: Monday through Wednesday, Jan. 24–26, 6:00-7:30 pm, Mixed-ability, Performance Technique and Improvisation with Jess Curtis and company members, at Inkub8; register through Florida Dance Association by calling 305-310-8080. Classes for able and non-able dancers: Single Class, $15; Three Classes and a Concert Ticket, $60.

Discussion with Jess Curtis: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 8:00-9:00 pm, “Imaginations of the Body, Physical Diversity and Performance in Germany, England and the U.S.” Dancers, choreographers and general public invited, free

Dances for Non/Fictional Bodies: Friday & Saturday, Jan. 28 & 29, 2011, 8:00 pm, discussion follows concert. General admission, $25; senior (65+) & students with I.D., $18. Location: Inkub8, 2021 NW First Place, Miami, FL (Wynwood). Directions click here.