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Apartment dwellers know the sensation: mysterious sounds through the ceiling, floor or walls, made by people you don’t necessarily even know. Rowhouse denizens, in turn, might know their neighbors — but not what’s causing all that racket.
Such urban phenomena are a key inspiration for “Rowhouse,” the new show by longtime Pittsburgh favorites Attack Theatre. As usual, the troupe combines original music with contemporary dance. But though Attack fans will recognize frequent collaborators like music director Dave Eggar, this show, which runs Fri., Dec. 1, through Dec. 9, will have a new feel for the group.
Attack co-founder and executive artistic director Michele de la Reza describes “Rowhouse” as “six dancers, five musicians and nine doors.” The musicians include noted Brooklyn-based rapper and actor Le’Asha Julius, who has opened for stars like Kendrick Lamar and Noname. It’s Julius’ Pittsburgh debut, and the first time Attack has incorporated hip-hop into a production.
To evoke the feel of living in a dense city neighborhood, the troupe has designed a tripartite set, consisting of a bedroom, a living room, and a front stoop — the latter the place where private lives overlap in public.
Musically, “Rowhouse” will attempt to summon the experience of hearing things through walls, or in various states of consciousness. Instead of performing hip-hop rhythms on bass and drums, said Eggar, the ensemble will employ cello, vibraphone, and pots and pans, “almost like you’re waking up from a dream.”
The show indulging “the curiosity [about] what happens on the other side of the wall,” as de la Reza puts it, comes to the artistic leads naturally. Eggar has lived in New York City neighborhoods including the Upper West Side. De la Reza has lived in New York and, in the Pittsburgh area, in a Wilkinsburg rowhouse with her husband, Attack co-founder Peter Kope.
Kope and de la Reza choreographed “Rowhouse” with another first-time collaborator, Pittsburgh-based Sabrina Liu. The music and movement were developed in tandem. The dancers include Kope, de la Reza, Lydia Clinton, Ethan Gwynn, Miranda Nichols and Sarah Zielinski. The music is by Eggar, Julius, guitarist Phil Faconti, and percussionist Black Collins.
The dance vignettes look to tell the multiple stories that can happen in a given space over the years, and how they might weave together. Or, as de la Reza puts it, “What if the walls really did have ears?”
“Rowhouse” receives five performances, Fri., Dec. 1, through Sat., Dec. 9, at Attack’s studios, in Lawrenceville. Julius will perform at all shows. The Dec. 8 and 9 performances will feature pre-recorded music.
