Daniel Safer and Witness Relocation

[RS Gallery Feature] • Daniel Safer's work with Witness Relocation has been called everything from "breathtaking" to "a jackboot in the face." We agree, and it's best seen live and in person.For more information, visit them at www.witnessrelocation.org. Here's what their official press bio says:

Led by director/ choreographer Dan Safer, Witness Relocation started in 2000P. roductions of original dance/theater pieces and plays include Dancing Vs. The Rat Experiment (La MaMa Annex); In A Hall in the Palace of Pyrrhus from Racine’s “Andromaque” (Ohio Theater Ice Factory; Revolutions Festival, New Mexico); Thomas Lehman’s Schriebstuck (Bangkok Fringe Festival); Fuck Off, Sometimes I Just Crumble (Catch Series at Galapagos); Roberto Zucco by Bernard- Marie Koltes (two times: at the Currican Theater and at the Ohio Theater/KoltesNY Festival); No Exit/Go To Hell from the Sartre play (Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church); Germany In Autumn and Katzelmacher adapted from Fassbinder (NYU); Mr. Kolpert by David Gieselmann (Dixon Place); Dancing vs. Blood on The Cat's Neck inspired by a Fassbinder play, Bangkok Nutcracker, and Cling (all at Patravadi Theater, Bangkok). The company has danced in rock videos and on a Thai TV Soap Opera, and teaches workshops internationally.

Starting in 2004, Witness Relocation engaged in a two-year residency at the renowned Patravadi Theater in Bangkok, Thailand, which radically altered our work. From the collision of different artistic and cultural perspectives and the intensive sharing of techniques and training methods, a unique, interdisciplinary vocabulary began to take shape, combining elements of Eastern and Western performance, dance, theater, and installation art.

Dan Safer originally hails from the wild suburbs of New Jersey and has choreographed / directed / adapted all of WR’s shows. His work has also been seen at Dance Theater Workshop (four consecutive seasons), Danspace Project, Baltimore Theatre Project (Outstanding Ensemble Award), The First Annual Viewpoints in American Performance Conference, Bryant Park Summer Stage, The DanceNow Festival, Swarthmore College, NYU, The Pyramid Club, and other places, including Off-Broadway at Classic Stage Company and the 78th Street Theater Lab, sometimes working with directors like David Esbjornson, Andrei Belgrader, Sam Helfrich, and David Levine. He recently choreographed The Merry Widow and West Side Story at the AshLawn Opera Festival in Virginia, has collaborated on rock videos for The Rogers Sisters and Murder By Death, co-created the cliff-hanger serial The Cliffs of Des Peres with playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, and choreographed The 2004 Miss Air Hostess Beauty Pageant in Bangkok, Thailand. He has performed with Hong Kong choreographer Dick Wong, Ridge Theater, Jane Comfort & Company, Mabou Mines, the Blacklips Performance Cult, and was once a go-go dancer. He founded and directed the Bangkok Performance Boot Camp, is faculty at NYU, has guest taught at Playwright’s Horizons Theater School, Swarthmore College, Patravadi Theatre, University of New Mexico (Albuquerque), Tricklock Theater Company, Dhurakijpundit University, Naropa University, and many other places. He is a 2007-9 recipient of the Six Fellowship (Performing Arts) from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.

"Raw physical intensity against a backdrop of grace and beauty" - Bangkok Magazine

"Breathtaking" - nytheatre.com

"A jackboot in the face" - The Village Voice

"Performers who are equally adept at acting as well as dance.” - New West