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These independent artists create unusual work or devise distinct artistic events without the benefit of institutional support or widespread fame

Sunday, June 02, 2002

Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope
Founders, Attack Theatre

Without a doubt, Attack Theatre fulfilled its promise this year by stretching, shifting and crossing the boundaries of dance. We saw it on video and by telephone at the Mattress Factory ("Hi, I've Got Two Minutes"), choreographing Squonk Opera's "Burn," working with Karla Boos and Pittsburgh Opera in "Carmen" and in its fantasy/reality performances of "This Ain't the Nutcracker." In between, the troupe did a six-week residency at the Dillworth Traditional Academy, making "movement spies" out of third- and fifth-grade students. And, while we didn't see them at the Avignon Festival in France last summer, that stint will lead to a trip to Japan next year.

Boxstep
Band: Greg Cislon, tr Daddario, Jackie Dempsey, Eric Graf, Erin Hutter, Paul Labrise, Sarah Siplak and David Wallace

	Innovators on their own terms: top, Michele de la Reza; from left, Karl Mullen, Sreyashi Dey, Eric Graf and Peter Kope. (Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette)

An impassioned mini-orchestra with co-ed vocals, strings, intense dynamics and an English teacher known to e-mail people poems every Friday, Boxstep doesn't have much trouble standing out among local bands. Signed to Windy City indie Overcoat, they played a label showcase in support of their acclaimed release "The Faces All Look On" at the prestigious South-by-Southwest Music and Media Conference in March.

Karl Mullen
Musician, artist, Club Cafe booking manager

There was a weekend in March when Mullen had an art opening at Gallerie Chiz, his Karl Mullen Band was performing at the Empty Bowls Dinner -- for which he worked up a song with students from the Duquesne School District -- and he had a full weekend of shows he'd booked at Club Cafe. Mullen arrived from his native Ireland in 1976 and founded the band Carsickness. Since then, he's toned down musically, but his creative energy has never lagged.

Sreyashi Dey
Artistic director, Srishti Dances of India

Dey has taken an art form born in the temples of India and challenged its possibilities by working with Western influences in music, poetry and drama. Her "Chitrag-anda" at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theatre last fall set a standard for community arts groups, reinforcing feminist strengths (from a country where many women cannot fulfill their potential) along with embracing new choreography and music.