Serve it up tennis style! Our muse is the gestural interplay of ball people- agile tennis sideline speedsters who chase down fugitive balls. Their mercurial and symmetrical movements inhabit (in)visibility and collaboration. With contorted repetition, this fantasia queers the idea of champion.

The rigorous labor of ball people is hyper-visible yet intended to be ignored. What happens if we flip this? Performed by five dancers, their repetitious movement transforms as the piece considers how we take up space and collect and distribute attention. Drawing inspiration from sports commentators and backup singers the sound, lights, and costumes rewire and compete with the subtle, absurd movement.

“Hilarious and magnetic.” -Washington Post

Avant-garde choreographer Thomas Choinacky premieres this virtuosic dance weaving together themes of visibility and queerness with their visual art practice, which uses a tennis ball as painting tool. Alongside the production, a zine was created for Forehand Down the Line and will be available for purchase at the venue.

This production is sponsored by Dunlop Sports.