Nine years ago, choreographer Brian Sanders and his company, Junk, tumbled headfirst onto the Live Arts red carpet with “The Gate,” a high-flying and incredibly popular show that mixed playful acrobatics and physical theater with an inventive set design.
Now they’re back with “The Gate Reopened.” Though hosted at the same venue as the original, the long-awaited sequel makes use of the Delaware River’s Pier 9 differently this time. “Whereas the original show was outdoors, this run-around will be indoors — and the seating is now completely different,” says Sanders. “The audience no longer faces the stage from one side.”
If you happened to catch the 2003 production, you’d know that Pier 9 is approximately 100 times larger than a normal stage, but Sanders has taken even greater lengths to “bump everything up a notch” (this from a show with three-story drops).
His revamp of the piece is not only about “moving from one state to the next,” but more importantly, “traveling between worlds by breaking barriers, because it clearly takes effort to push your way through.”
Though Sanders and Junk may come across to some as more daredevil than daring, the choreographer welcomes the skepticism.
“I’m going to embrace the word ‘skeptical,’ because though everyone has new ideas, it’s easy to get defeated,” he says. “I like to think big and carry through until I’m eventually able to pull things off.”
If you go
‘The Gate Reopened’
Through Saturday
Pier 9, 121 N. Columbus Blvd.
