BORN TO FLY Doc Exposes Risky Stunts and Hard Crashes of Flying Humans

Documentary filmmaker Catherine Gund previews her latest “extreme action” movie Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, which showcases the unique confluence of dance and daredevil-style stunts in a circus atmosphere that literally sends performers flying dangerously through the air.

“I was trying to focus on what interested me most in the world, and it was always action. But it was eccentric, craggy kind of action – not gorgeous, aesthetic, beautiful action like ballet or whatnot,” explains Streb, the primary subject of the film.

Streb said she experienced that kind of action on a personal level by doing activities she enjoyed, like riding motorcycles, skiing, playing basketball and baseball and “just crashing into things.”

Once described as the Evel Knievel of Dance, Streb’s choreography - which she calls “PopAction” – adheres to the notion that “anything too safe is not action.” This leads her team of daredevils to challenge the assumptions of art, aging, injury, gender, and human possibility.

“I just decided to build in the dance world… a series of moves that would deal with danger, allow us to change our base of support, not look at ourselves in the mirror,” she said. “Music is a true enemy of dance, I eliminated that,” she reveals in a statement that would shock most dance artists. “The whole timing system creates an artificiality in action.”

She likened the use of music with dance as “a taming device” that does not allow the flee flow of natural motion. “Like if you tell a lion or a panther to just move to these beats. (They would respond)… I have things to do out there in the tundra, and I’m going to run 70 miles an hour, and just get out of my way.”

“For me, we were falling. You know you can fall from 35 feet in two-thirds of a second, and you can hit at 35 miles an hour. For me, I abandoned that - I abandoned being right side up.”

The philosophy challenges the idea that gravity is a negative force. “Our idea would be… like Cirque du Soleil, they don’t land. So we developed an impact technique so that we could really crash through glass, slam into walls, fall from 40 feet… I want to see the failure of flight, absolutely.”

Gund said she had known Streb and was aware of her work for a long time, but it eventually hit her that there was a real story there, and she ended up telling it similarly to the way Streb stages her performances.

“Her work really is having an impact on the viewer, it is relational work. Even though she’s so focused, and she’s trying to strip it bare into this pure action moment. There’s still the give-and-take within the community in which it exists which is so powerful.”

Gund addresses one of the main themes of the film, how the performers deal with fear while staging sometimes death-defying acts. “They’re not denying fear, or trying to surpass it, they’re trying to work with it and acknowledge it and welcome it,” she said.

“And that’s why at the end, people say, ‘I can’t believe you got her to say she was scared.’ And I was like, I didn’t have to do that, she admits being scared. Because how are you going to get up on the building and walk down if you don’t admit that you’re scared?”

Those featured in the documentary discuss the issue of fear, but they also explain the places they have to go in their minds to get past it. “In this society, everybody does everything, they’re motivated by fear – and that is a cloud that keeps people from doing things.”

The film also deals with the issue of injuries, some of which are severe or even life-threatening.

In her case, Streb said she fares much better than other daredevils because of her many years of intense training. “My bone density is like a 30-year-old’s bone density. So impact training forces your bones to get thicker and better - so osteoporosis is not an issue for me.”

She adds that there is never a shortage of people willing to sign up for the physically rigorous troupe – especially as the movement gets well-known — and notes that during a recent audition session, 75 people showed up to vie for one open spot.