NEW YORK, February 6, 2023- Jody Oberfelder Projects, known for their immersive dance experiences of inventive athleticism, wit, and whimsy, presents Rube G. – The Consequence of Action at Gibney Dance Center, March 4th-5th, 11th-12th, and 18th-19th. 

Interactive and immersive, the work’s origin stemmed from a collaboration with composer Frank London in 2019 to honor Jewish thinkers, philosophers, and artists for the New York Public Library. Oberfelder dove into the work of Rube Goldberg, an American cartoonist and inventor known for the Rube Goldberg machine; a chain reaction–type machine intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and impractically overly complicated way with a set of reactions working in succession to trigger one event after another until the final event is complete. Her physical exploration of this phenomenon pivoted during the COVID-19 outbreak, engaging a global community of dancers and civilians to create a film inspired by the connective nature of the Rube Goldberg machine. Using prompts for actions like swish, bounce, slide, swing, pop, spin, and others, the film became the larger catalyst for Rube G. – The Consequence of Action, bringing its concepts and momentum off the screen and onto the stage for an ensemble of four dancers. The live work engages audiences by creating a theatrical movement-based site-specific work indoors, with actions from audience participation adding in new triggers for new movements and new connections throughout the evening. 

“There are so many layers to the consequence of action,” notes Oberfelder. “As sound and dance penetrate our space, it is absorbed by everyone in the room, creating a kinesthetic connection,” she continues. “There is a consequence of inaction too. But this piece keeps going, like a Rube Goldberg machine, each move seemingly important, but at the end of the day, it’s just a dance.”