PRESS - articles and reviews for "Alternate Reality"

September 15th, 2007
Charlotte, North Carolina
The Charlotte Observer, by Steven Brown
about alban elved dance company perofrmances of "Alternate Reality" and "cauda" as part of the 2nd annual Charlotte Dance Festival 2007

"Aerial performances cap celebration of innovative dance - a soaring, swinging finale"

..."Yet the most striking works came from Karola Lüttringhaus and her alban elved dance company of Wilmington. "Alternate Reality," with Lüttringhaus and Shawn Worthington hanging from cables, was for a man and woman who are trapped; only with fumbling did they discover each other and make a play for freedom. Lüttringhaus' solo, "Caulda" -- Latin for "like an animal" -- had her on a bungee that only barely lifted her off the stage. She hovered, she balanced on one hand, she struggled onto her feet, but she never found freedom. Unfortunate creature. "



July 28, 2001
Boulder, Colorado
DAILY CAMERA, by Janine Gastineau

"Aerial Dance Show a Visual Treat"

..."wonderful" ... "stunning effect"..."funny"

...Karola Luttringhaus and Andrea Lieske (of the Berlin founded- North Carolina based Alban Elved Dance Company) dance the wonderful "Alternate Reality"atop two wooden boxes to stunning effect.

Bound to the ceiling by single waist-attached ropes and harnesses, the two women dressed in men's suits, perform a strange, funny dance of connection and alienation.

They scrabble along the sharp edges of the boxes' outlines, then hang upside down, spinning slowly, their ropes like some bizarre umbilicus preventing them from getting far - or too close- to one another....

08-03-01 Dance Insider Online Magazine
by Maura Nguyen Donohue (Copyright 2001)

"Air Apparent Running Away with the Aerial Dance Festival"

"Luttringhaus's "Alternate Reality," a duet for herself and (Andrea) Lieske, is a highly striking work that perfectly exemplifies aerial modern dance. Luttringhaus (or resident rogue, as I nicknamed her for myself) is a tall, stunning woman with sharp Germanic features, dyed red hair and black boots. She's constructed a darkly comedic work of delightful dance theater that reveals how aerial work can augment an idea without becoming all about the equipment.

The dance is richly layered with intricate craftsmanship. Each dancer is in rope & harness and revealed separately on his or her own wooden block, designed to abstractly evoke a waterfront cliff. Each performs a solo sequence to introduce the alternate spaces. Lieske spends a good part of four minutes upside down and spinning while Luttringhaus unsuccessfully attempts to dive off, only to be thwarted by her own rope. When they each begin to enter the other's realm the dance takes off into thrilling moments of suspension, swing and split second timing.

Luttringhaus and Lieske are synergic partners; their timing, theatricality, execution and risk taking is superb."