“It’s … a delicious and smooth blend of dance and live music.”
That’s how co-founder and artistic executive director of Attack Theatre Michele de la Reza described the company’s upcoming “Sessions” performance.
The one-night-only show — which will take place Saturday — will feature live music, storytelling and dance soundracked by the music of New York City-based alt-pop artist Rachael Sage. She will perform at the event, along with Grammy Award-winning cellist Dave Eggar.
Eggar is, in fact, the string that pulled Sage and Attack Theatre together. He’s closely collaborated with both over the years.
“I’ve been playing and collaborating with him for many years now — I think maybe even over two decades — and we’ve toured the world together. For many years, he’s always been like, ‘hang on a second, I have to talk to my friends at Attack Theatre,’ … or, ‘I’ll be right back with you. I’m emailing Attack Theatre.’ I’m like, ‘what is Attack Theatre?’ I started looking at their dance performances online and hearing about them through Dave, and I said to him continually, if there’s ever an opportunity to collaborate with them … I would leap because I just love their sensibility. I love what they do with live music,” Sage said.
In addition to singing, songwriting, playing multiple instruments and founding her own record label, Sage also has a background in dance. Partnering for a performance with the Pittsburgh-based dance company was a natural fit for her.
From her end, de la Reza has been hearing about Sage from Eggar for decades and has even used music from Sage’s 2021 release “Poetica” in dance classes or other capacities at Attack Theatre.
“It’s a beautiful kind of full circle, being able to join each other on stage,” she said.
Attack Theatre was founded in Pittsburgh in 1994 by de la Reza and Peter Kope. The company integrates dance, live music and other art forms in innovative performances. The 2024-25 slate of shows is their “Season of Fire.”
They also focus on community, bringing the talents of the company to other cultural institutions and nonprofits. Recently, their dancers performed in Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Haydn’s “Armida.”
Saturday night’s performance will include songs from Sage’s 2024 album “Another Side,” selections from her forthcoming record “Canopy” and a smattering of songs from throughout her prolific catalog of more than 15 albums.
When it came to selecting songs, de la Reza described it as a “twisty, turny process.”
“Sometimes it was anchoring into the words, into the poetry of the lyrics. Sometimes it was the emotionality or the kind of vibe, like the spirit of the song that maybe led us into a certain type of physicality.”
Sage is a great admirer of the city of Pittsburgh and was excited to work with some of its artists.
“Pittsburgh has always been a very special city for me, not only because I have quite an unusual history with ‘Dance Moms’ that used 22 of my songs on their show, but because a lot of my favorite visual artists are from there. I’ve always loved that aspect of the art scene and beautiful murals and Dave’s connection to it and — two of my favorite artists are Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. So just that region, in general, has always meant a lot to me.”
Attack Theatre is also collaborating with Women Who Rock for this “Sessions” performance. The Pittsburgh-based organization promotes women in music and advocates for women’s health in partnership with Magee-Womens Research Institute. Both de la Reza and Sage spoke about their journeys with cancer and the impact of Women Who Rock’s work to empower female musicians and women’s health initiatives.
“It’s certainly something that I have been very comfortable to speak up on and to write about in the years since my diagnosis. So hopefully, I can help cast a light on just encouraging women to take care of themselves and to cue into what Women Who Rock are doing on the forefront of women’s health,” Sage said.
Among the other synergistic elements of this unique performance are the fact that Both Attack Theatre and Sage’s record label, MPRess Records, are approaching their 30th birthdays.
de la Reza is not ruling out the idea of “taking the show on the road,” but she emphasized how unique the one-night-only nature of this “Sessions” performance will be. “It’s going be a moment of whoever is there in the audience witnessing that experience. … This one really is built to be an in-the-moment, very special experience.”
Attack Theatre’s “Sessions” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 at Attack Theatre Studios in Lawrenceville. For tickets and more informatioon, visit attacktheatre.com.