"IT'S CONTEMPORARY DANCE. IT'S THEATRE. IT'S A CONCERT. AND IT IS, SIMPLY, ASTOUNDING."
—Arizona Daily Star
"SURROUNDING DILLINGER"
Hardened by a decade-long prison sentence for a minor offense, a newly-released John Dillinger assembles a likable but deadly gang of criminals to help him steal back the life he lost in a dazzling series of depression-era bank robberies. But with the newly-formed FBI hot on his trail and the shadows of his past closing in around him, Dillinger must make the ultimate getaway or lose everything, and everyone, he has come to love the most.
"Surrounding Dillinger"—a collaboration between Ryanhood and the Artifact Dance Project which debuted to rave reviews in March 2017—is a modern story-ballet choreographed and danced by Tucson's premiere collaborative dance company, Artifact Dance Project, with Ryanhood performing original music live onstage throughout the show. Without any spoken dialogue, Artifact uses dance, gesture, and movement to portray the events and relationships surrounding John Dillinger’s storied bank robbing career, while Ryanhood "narrates" the inner worlds of the characters through lyric and song. The show's music is made up of half pre-existing Ryanhood songs, including "Welcome You Into My Head," "Second City," "Mature," and of course, "Dillinger Days." The remainder of the show features a series of variations around the show's torch song, "I Only Want The Same Things," a new song called, "Heart on Holiday", and several songs from fellow Tucson, AZ artists Carlos Arzate & The Kind Souls, Sweet Ghosts, and The Great Collision.
Watch a short documentary about the creation of the show, and the checkout the full review from Arizona Daily Star.